Bats and Leaguers
by Airmage
Summary: The Bat Clan and the Justice League aren't really what one would even call acquaintances on good terms. And Wally, being a member of the Bat Clan, his new family, shares the Clan's disdain toward the League. But when the villains of these rivals join together, the Clan and the League will end up working together more then they like. (Wally is the main character.)
1. Prologue: The Other Heroes

**Hey guys! So this is it, a rewrite of the old prologue. I'm not happy with the way the other version went, so i'm rewriting the entire thing. This way, i can actually have an idea as to bring in the plot quicker. However, there will be a few things that will stay the same.**

**Review and tell me what you think!**

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Prologue: The Other Heroes

The world loved the Justice League; how could they not? The League had powers, they had strength. They fought against the super-villains and kept the world safe from harm. They work together to solve the problems of the world, proving that it takes more than just one hero to save the world. They stand for truth, liberty, and justice; they stand against evil. People know that they can trust them. And hey, who doesn't like people in tights with superpowers and free autographs?

But there's another group of superheroes, ones known to only the people they come in contact with, and rumors and legends to all others. A group of superheroes who can remain hidden for years to the outside world, escaping notice of all save for those they reveal themselves to.

They are the Bat-Clan.

It started as nothing more than one man's ambition to protect the city, his home, from the gangs and the villains that plagued it. But when he took in a small child, his little bird, it changed. And the clan grew as well. From being the Dark Knight to the Dynamic duo, it was now a group of thirty-two people, ranging from the ages of twelve to forty-two.

Loved by only the cities they protect, the governments they had worked with, and the people they had protected, they didn't have any 'powers', at least, not ones that people would considered as superpowers. They held respect from all who believed in them, even from the villains they had fought. They worked in the shadows of the world, sometimes helping others without them even knowing. They were unwilling to let others help them, however, reluctant to let their secrets come into the light. Very few had the skills to become a Bat, but for those who did and were found, they were trained immediately to become one of the most skilled people on earth. They could evade anyone for a long period of time. They had no 'super-powers', but they had their intellect, their strength, and their willingness to save others.

But they also had other quality, one that stands out in each of them differently, and one that makes the Bat Clan so much different from the other heroes.

It was to take in a fallen soul. To take in someone who'd suffer from loss, from having someone near and dear to them ripped away, leaving them alone in the darkness, with nothing to hold onto save for the darkness itself; because every single Bat had felt that loss. Every single Bat had plummeted downwards, feeling lost and confused, hurt and neglected by the world. They had grasped the hand of the darkest night, and had felt it bring them down. And then, they had been pulled back up by a Bat, forming a bond thicker then blood. And after such a bond had formed, how could a Bat ever break away? How could they leave behind the people who were more than family to them?

And it was that very quality that gave them another member; another brother, nephew, and son.

It was that quality that made Dick Grayson stop when he heard crying outside of an ally in Blüdhaven. It was that quality that made Dick go inside the ally and discover a young boy just nine years old. It was that quality that made him pick up the boy, and take him to the hospital. It was that quality that made him give the boy another chance at life, a better life. It was that quality that made him take the boy, Wally West, in as his son.

And after Wally healed, he trained him to be a hero, a Bat, and his brother-in-arms. A desire burned in Wally, just as it had burned in the other Bats. It was the desire to save others from the monsters of the world they lived in. And just a year after his training completed, Batman formally made him into a Bat, and the second Bat with powers; Strike.

Now, five years after Wallace Rudolph West became Wallace West Grayson, Strike continues to work alongside with Nightwing and Mistress Magic, his 'mentors'. Together, the three strike fear into the hearts of every villain they come across, whether it's in Blüdhaven, or another bat villain from one of the other bat cities.

Wally never thought about talking to his living relatives, a mom who neglected him, a father who's in jail, and an aunt who never has time. He never thought about seeing them again; heck he really never thinks about them, unless it's after one of those really rare nightmares. With his new family, one whom he knows will always have his back he doesn't need to think about his blood family again.

But Fate has other plans; for when the enemies of the rivals unite, then the rivals will clash. And eventually, they must come together, for the sake of their families, their friends, and their world.

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**BTW, if you guys like the other version better, please tell me. I may just change it back to the other one, or i may just delete this story and rewrite it a different way. Please tell me! Oh, and check out my other story ideas on my profile, and PM to tell me what you want to see next.**

**Review! :)**


	2. One: Escape

**Hey guys! sorry for the long wait! Honestly, this chapter was a bit hard to write. I wanted to incorporate a bit of Wally and his relationships before I continue. I plan big things for these relationships later on. Also know that I will add the whole Clan vs. League thing, though the actual fighting between them will appear later on in the story. And thanks for all the reviews!**

platypuslover:

I love the story though could you give a timeline

**Time line would be this:**

**Dick moved to Bludhaven, was solo for a year and half, found Wally, adopted him, and a few months later married his girlfriend of a three years, Zatanna. I hope it helps, tell me if there's anything else you want to know!**

Mattchew Inheritance

Great idea, plz keep writing. I'm a big dick/zatanna fan, so don't wait too long to get to that :)

**Please read below for dick/zatanna :)**

dancerjay12

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

**Hmm, may have to wait for a few days for that :P jk**

TheWanderingCat96

Oohh not bad compared to the other one, this felt more to the point without Wally's backstory. More dramatic and enigmatic even. Well done.

All though you've already written some of the plot, I can't wait to read your story all over again! It's such an original idea!(To me at least) :)

Signed, Aria.

**Thanks! :)**

Wind Goddess Writer

I don't get it.

**What don't you get? I'm confused about that...**

Guest

I liked the oter proplog better change it backthis prolog i don't like at all I mean where is zatanna she is only mentioned once is she and nightwing married post the old one

**Zatanna's here. She wasn't married to Dick just yet. And if you still don't like, then don't read.**

theGirldNightwing

I like this . . .

**Thanks :)**

**And now, without further ado, here's chapter one :)**

******Read and Review!**

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Escape

(Strike POV)

Looking around the cliché investigation room, I realized that I could add another rule to the Bat-Rules (A book which started with Nightwing, then Robin, writing down lessons he learned). It would be around rule number two hundred fifty- when your own bad guys get involved with the League bad guys, **do not pursue League bad guys, even if it's a good idea**. You're mostly likely to end up being knocked out by the League (who'd happen to be hunting down for the same guy) and taken in for interrogation at the Hall of Justice, their headquarters. After all, it's not like they really think that the Bats can handle themselves since we don't have any powers.

Pfft, like they actually _know_ anything.

Seriously, the League had to be one of the least informed, powerful agencies. Even Wayne Enterprises can surpass them in gathering information. And the interrogation room was really pathetic. Then again, I can't compare the room to the interrogation rooms where the Bats do their stuff, because frankly, they change every time.

And those 'rooms' actually scare the shit out of people.

In the room, there was a door on the wall to my right, and towards the other end of the room. The room also has four white walls, two chairs, and a table in between. I was currently sitting in the chair with my hands cuffed behind the back of the chair. It was well lit with a vent directly above me. Hmm, I could use a vent…

The door opened quietly, and Superman walked in as if he owned the place, which he probably didn't, with a reporter's salary and all (slicking your hair back and putting on glasses isn't a good way to hide your secret ID, especially if you're going to spend most of your time around people who know Bruce Wayne and the media that surrounds Gotham's Playboy Billionaire-soon-to-be-Trillionaire).

"How are you this fine evening Boy Scout?" I asked, being polite. Mistress Magic (Nightwing's wife) always told me to be polite to adults, no matter how much you hate them. So I was, though there's a little voice in my head that says she's talking about my attitude to my gym teacher…nay, that can't be right.

"Look kid," Superman said in that annoying tone adults use when they think you're a two year old or something. "I know that you call yourself a Bat, and I'm well aware of the fact that there are a group of people who 'fight crime'. But you're just a kid, and this lifestyle can get you hurt, or worse, killed."

"Just a kid huh?" I leaned back in my chair, tapping my cuffed hands against the back of my seat. "What about your sidekicks? There're a few who're younger than me."

"They have super powers, and with those powers, they chose to protect the world from it." Superman replied easily. "And they have others to protect them."

I frowned slightly. Who the hell did he think he was, saying that only people with super powers can protect others? Okay, so I _do_ have powers (one of the very few Bats that do), but Batman and Nightwing don't and both of them combined can take out the entire League. "So only people with powers can protect this world?" I asked, keeping my voice neutral. "What about the police officers, and firefighters, and soldiers and people like that?"

"They don't deal with the big stuff," Superman replied. "They deal with the minor stuff, the people who aren't villains with super powers."

"Ok," I said slowly, wishing that I had my belt on so I can somehow manage to beat the crap out of the man in front of me.

Superman narrowed his eyes, but said "We'll let you go, but you'll have escorts to take you back to your house."

_What?_

"Pass," I growled. "I'm old enough to walk back home." _'And no way in hell I'm going to show you where I live.'_

"That's not an option kid," Superman said firmly. "You're getting escorts, so we can make sure that you don't pull this kind of thing again."

"And what about my belt?" I demanded.

"It's detained," he answered.

I lunged forward in my seat, but not with enough force to break the chair; I can't risk taking Superman one on one. "You can't do that, it's mine!"

"I'm pretty sure that someone gave it to you," Superman placed his hands on the table and leaned forward. "So technically, it doesn't belong to you"

"Ever hear of a gift Boy Scout?" I snapped back, starting to get angry. No way that the League was going to go through my stuff. I could always get another, but try explaining it to Batman about losing a part of your uniform, especially to the League; not fun at all.

Before he could reply, the door opened, and Black Canary walked in. When I first saw her, I thought that her outfit, with the leotard, the tights, boots, jacket and fingerless gloves, was a little too revealing to be in the super hero business. And then I saw Wonder Woman.

She placed on of her hands on her hips. "I'll take it from here, Superman," she offered with a smile.

"He's all yours," he said with a grin, and walked pasted her, giving her a nod as he left. He closed the door behind him. I slightly narrowed my eyes.

"Whoa, he's such a good role model," I said sarcastically, nodding my head as if I totally agreed with it. "I mean, telling others that only people with super powers can protect the world, and then hypocritically telling off a teen for saving the world while he's in charge of a group of teenage superheroes…whoa, just amazing."

"You should respect your elders," Black Canary said, her voice hard. She crossed her arms, and gave me a hard look, which was almost like a glare, but not quite. She stood stiffly "Even if they insulted you."

"I think that rule pertains to only a few people," I replied, "Particularly people who can make killer food worth dying for." I thought of Agent A and Mistress Magic; don't _ever_ cross them. That's a rule that moved up into the top ten of the Bat Rules, the first one being don't ever say that Batman's wrong. Well, it's either that or don't ever humiliate Batman if you want to live to see another day.

She didn't say anything, studying me for a few minutes, her gaze softening. "You really are a Bat, aren't you?" she asked softly, as if she was curious.

I raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in tone and facial expressions, "Actually, I'm a boy, not a bat." I grinned at her. She gave me a small smile back.

"And to think that all the Leaguers hated the Bats," I commented, leaning back and relaxing. Though I didn't show it, I was curious as to why she was suddenly nice to me. The attitude from the other Leaguers said that they disapproved of me, a lot. That and they seemed to hate me for some reason. Maybe I shouldn't have called them 'idiots with superpowers and colorful tights' just as they arrived. But hey, they were the reason that Solomon Grundy and Abracadabra got away. Nightwing, Mistress Magic and I spent a week trying to catch them.

"I grew up in Gotham City" she explained, her body starting to relax "Spent my entire life there before I moved a few years ago. And then a while later, the League offered membership, and I said yes."

"So what made you move?" I asked, interested.

Her face turned into a blank façade, "Personal reasons," she replied shortly.

"Ah," I put my feet up on the table. "So, you're here to interrogate me?"

"If you're even an eighth like Batman, you'd resist any interrogation methods," she said, giving me a small smile.

"Well, save for a few," I grinned lazily at her, deciding to humor her "You're a Clan Fan aren't you?" Clan Fan was the nickname for anyone who liked the Bat Clan better then the Justice League.

"With just a tad bit of Leaguer Fever," she replied, taking a seat in the chair across the table.

Leaguer Fever was a nickname for League Fans, with the same implications as Bieber Fever. I sighed in fake disappointment. "Oh Black Canary, and you seemed to be alright."

She laughed, "Alright, enough of the chit-chat," she said. She leaned forward in her chair. "After Superman returns, he will send heroes to escort you home."

"That's what he told me," I snorted "There's no way in hell that I'm showing Leaguers where my house is."

"So, no back-up plan huh?"

"Hey, I never thought that I would get captured by the Leaguers in the first place."

"So why did you get captured?" she questioned "Although, I suspect that being miles outside of Blüdhaven would have had something to do with it."

I shrugged "Grundy and Abracadabra were getting away. I offered to get them."

"So why were you chasing them in the first place? Shouldn't Nightwing and Mistress Magic be there helping you?"

I gave her a crooked grin at her sudden interest "Sorry, Canary, you're good, but not that good." She looked surprised, and then held my gaze for a few minutes, as if she was searching for something.

Finally, she said "What gave me away?"

"You revealed a little too much about yourself right away," I replied, "and what better way to interrogate someone then to say that you have a connection with them? They'd easily tell you things. People talk more easily if the other person has something in common with them. And in this case, our common thing would be the Bat Clan."

She scowled, "So I guess you're not telling me anything then?"

"Nope," I said easily, popping the p. She nodded once, and stood up, heading towards the door.

"Hey!" I called out. She paused at the door, but didn't turn around. "Why are you leaving so soon?" I grinned widely at her.

"My work here is done. And if you can figure out my ruse so easily, there's nothing more I can do. You'll be leaving shortly," she answered before walking out the door and closing it shut.

I sighed; sometimes, I just wish that things can go at their absolute easiest, if that expression makes any sense. "Fine," I muttered to myself, "Leave me to do all the hard work." I lifted my arms over the back of the chair and stood up, stretching. I pulled my legs through my looped arms so that they were now in front of my body.

I jumped onto the table, and then toward the vent. I dug my fingers in the little spaces in the vent covering and hung there for a few seconds before it fell down. I looked up to the cheerful grin of Nightwing.

"Hey," I said, surprised "What are you doing here?"

"Just rescuing you," he said casually, as if he did it every other day. In reality, it's only twice a week. "Here's your belt by the way. I stopped by the 'weapons storage' on my way here." I grinned as he tossed me my precious red belt, which I put on with both hands tied. "There's a camera, so what about the Leaguers who were watching me?"

"I gassed them when Back Canary was interrogating you, in addition to hacking the security and motion cameras so it looked like nothing out of the ordinary happened. Nice catch by the way. I almost thought you'd miss it," He commented, stilling smiling at me.

"I was trained by the best," I said, tossing the vent covering to Nightwing. He caught it with his hand "And then I was trained by Batman." I had spent a month with the Dark Knight when Nightwing and Mistress Magic had left on their honeymoon.

"Well?" Nightwing asked, reaching his hand out to me. I bent my knees, and jumped, easily catching his hand with both of mine as he pulled me up. The vent was rather large, but we still had to squeeze through to make it work. He unlocked the cuffs using a small lock-pick at the tip of his gloved finger. I let him lead the way and followed, though not before I close the vent. We didn't speak on the way out, just in case anyone can hear us.

It took several minutes to get out of the Hall of Justice. Nightwing carefully removed the vent before pushing himself out into the sunlight. I blinked a few times, my eyes adjusting to the bright light. It'd been a few hours since I've seen anything so bright.

I slid out of the vent and landed on my feet, bending my knees to soften the land. I looked at Nightwing, who was standing on his hands as if it was normal; which, to him, was. As a matter of fact, if he didn't stand on his hands at least once a day, then he's not Nightwing, Batman's stopped brooding, and the world would have ended. Okay, the latter two were a little too extreme. It would be closer to the truth to say that the world would be invaded by aliens who intend end our planet for whatever reason, and Batman would have actually enjoyed one of his charity balls.

"What took you so long?" Nightwing ask innocently. "I've been waiting forever!"

I rolled my eyes. "That's what you get for trying to take so long to track me down." I picked up the vent covering and looked at the vent opening, which was well beyond my reach.

He chuckled, still standing on his hands. "It took a while to take down all the goons, wait for you until we've realized that you're kidnapped by the League, try to stop Mistress Magic from having a panic attack, and then travelling to DC on my bike while making sure that yours follows me."

I frowned, my mind half on trying to cover the vent and the other half on answering him. "Is she really that mad?"

"Well, I think she's more worried than mad," He flipped onto his feet and walked over to me. Taking the vent cover from my hands, he walked over, stood on his tip-toes, and closed the vent.

"Show off," I muttered. He ruffled my hair. Nightwing was a sold six feet, half a foot taller than me.

"It's okay Strike," Nightwing told me, "You'll hit puberty in a year or two."

"Shut-up," I told him, my face turning red. He chuckled. He turned, and walked over to the bikes, which stood a few feet away from the vent.

I fingered my bike gently. She's one of the most precious things in my life, and I'd just die if anything happened to her. She was a beautiful, custom-made-then-'adjusted'-by-Red-Hood, silver and red sports bike. Nightwing tossed my helmet towards me.

"Let's go," he said, putting on his own. I started my bike, lying on top of the handle and sighing happily as I felt her alive underneath me.

"Wait until Archer Green finds out that you're cheating on her," Nightwing said; I could hear the smile in his voice.

"If you say one word about this to her," I pretended to threaten him, "Then I'll spill the affair with the taco to Mistress Magic." He was, as was everyone else really, in love with the tacos at Miguel's Mexican Cuisine.

He gasped dramatically "You wouldn't!"

"Oh, but I will." We laughed, not caring if anyone heard us.

"Alright," he said, "We should go. You're late for a very important date!" He turned his bike around and sped off into the woods. I followed close behind.

"_Whoa, wait, what date?"_ I asked him through the comm-link, worried.

Nightwing laughed "_Chill, it's not with Archer Green."_

I relaxed. She'd have killed me if I missed another date. "_So then…"_

"_Red Hood and Arsenal joined up on a gang bust that started a few weeks ago,"_ He continued, swerving across around trees. "_After a few runs with them, they figured out the drugs they were selling contained a sort of microscopic mind-control bugs, as well as a poison. The gang, it turned out, was actually working with the Cult of the Kobra. They were recruiting members, though the reasons remain unclear. They also found the target city, but they need someone to find the antidote and quickly apply it to the infected people, as the drug works fast. Now that's where you come in."_

"_Sweet!" _I crowed. I rarely went on missions that didn't involve Nightwing, Mistress Magic, or the Titans, a group of under twenty-years Bats that went on covert missions assigned by Batman or Red Robin, the leader of the Titans. "_So, where's target city?"_

He hesitated before he answered "_Central City."_

I slowed my bike to a stop. Nightwing swerved around, and stopped, facing me.

"_Strike-"_

"_Do I stay with _her_, or do I stay with Red Hood and Arsenal in a hotel?"_ I cut him off. His hesitation answered for me.

"_Absolutely not,"_ I told him.

Nightwing took off his helmet, "Look, I know you don't want to go there-"

"There's no way in hell I'm going back there."

"But the Cult will control people for whatever reason-"

"Then the people can suck it."

"And we can't let them. You know that whatever tiny activity the Cult seems to be involved in will always end up as a part of a larger scheme," He finished firmly. In a gentler tone, he added  
"It'll only be for the first half of spring break. You go in, get it done, and then leave. You may not even have to spend a lot of time with them. From what I…found out, they're pretty busy themselves."

I frowned, thinking it over. I hated her; she wasn't there for me back then, so she has no right to be near me right now. But then again, Nightwing was right. The Cult always had a larger scheme in mind. And after I swore to help people, I couldn't just let this go because I didn't like her or them for that matter. I sighed.

"Fine," I shot back. "I'll go. But don't expect me to stay any longer, or to be all open and friendly with them."

He gave me a small understanding smile. "I know."

(Page Break)

Just as our luck goes, only a few minutes after our 'talk' in the woods, a few League members caught up with us, Black Canary, Aquaman, and Hawkwoman. Instead of engaging with them, we managed to shake them off our trail, and then changed into our civvies. We stayed at a hotel room Nightwing, now Dick, reserved for us for just in case.

I sat on one of the twins beds, bored out of my mind. Dick was talking to Zee on the phone. He walked over to me, and handed over his cell-phone, a custom made Wayne Tech piece.

"She wants to talk to you," he said, tossing me the phone and flopping down on the other bed.

"Hello?"

"Are you alright Wally?" she asked, worried.

"Yeah, I'm cool," I replied, "Just got tossed into a tree by Grundy, and then promptly 'detained' by the Justice League. But ya know, all in a day's work!"

I heard her sigh "Wally, it was stupid for you to run of like that. What if something happened to you? What if it wasn't the League waiting to ambush you?" I winced inwardly at the worry in her voice. She was one of the few people who actually cared for me, and I just…

"Sorry," I said, guilty. "I didn't mean to."

"Its fine," her voice softened. "Besides, you're safe, and that's what matters." I smiled at that. "So, did the League take anything?"

I looked over at Dick, who was searching through my utility belt. He glanced up and shook his head, catching my meaning. "Nothing so far," I told her. Then, I put the phone on speaker.

"But," I said seriously, "There's something you should know."

"What's that?" she asked. Dick looked up, curious as well.

In an exaggerated whisper, I said "Dick's having an affair!"

She pretended to gasp, faking shock "What!" Dick looked alarmed.

I sighed dramatically "I'm so sorry," I solemnly told her. "But every Tuesday, he meets with her at Miguel's Mexican Cuisine, at four of the clock sharp."

"Oh? And what does she look like?" Zee asked, playing along.

"She has a crunchy outer shell, sweet juicy meat inside," I said "With fresh vegetables, and-"

"Alright," Dick reached over and grabbed the phone from my hand. "Stop making me hungry Wallace."

"Scared of your own wife, Richard?" I joked.

"You would be too, Wally," Zee said "Just wait until you're married."

"Sure," I said sarcastically.

Zee laughed "I have to go now; it's time for me to pick up Maria." Maria was Dick and Zee's three year old. We exchanged our good-byes, and Dick hung up.

"I'm hungry," I said, my stomach growling. Dick rolled his eyes and smirked.

"I'll order room service," he picked up the phone and talked to room service as I took the remote and turned on the TV. I flipped through the channels, not really paying attention to what was on.

"Whoa, go back two channels," Dick suddenly said. I did.

"This is Cat Grant reporting live from in front of the Hall of Justice here in Washington DC," a blonde reported said, surrounded by a large mass of reporters. "Behind me, Superman will come out in a few minutes to formally introduce a new 'covert' team for the Justice League, called 'Young Justice'."

"I can't believe it!" Dick exclaimed. "This is ridiculous! I'm calling Bruce!"

Feeling that I should call someone as well, I contacted Archer Green with my comm-link.

Her irritated voice greeted me "_What?"_

"Hey babe," I said cheerfully "You busy?"

"Uh yeah, seeing as the Predators are a little busy with Bane and his idiotic group of goons," she snapped. The Predators were a group of Bats that mostly travelled around, fighting crime. It consisted of her, Cheshire, Tigress (her two sisters), Arrowette, and Huntress, the leader of the Predators.

"Well, if you aren't _too_ busy-"she cut me off with a string of words that were rather…fowl, even more so then what I heard in Blüdhaven. As her rant went, talking about what exactly she'd do to Bane if she ever caught him, I grew nervous. Screw what Zee said about fearing my wife; I'm scared now.

"I'll uh, talk to you later," I quickly ended the link. Damn.

I turned to Dick, who was intently watching Superman start his speech. "Does the League not know the meaning of 'covert'?"

"Well, some of them are angry," I pointed out. "I mean, Black Canary looks unhappy. Hey, did you know that she's-"

"A Clan Fan with a touch of Leaguer Fever," he replied easily, still staring at the screen. "Her mother, Dinah Lance, maiden name Drake, was the first Black Canary. She was in the Justice Society of America, and she gave birth to her daughter, Dinah Laurel Lance, when she was in her early forties. Her husband's name was Larry Lance, a detective in the GCPD. The older couple was murdered by Two-Face, which prompted Dinah the second to become a psychiatrist, with financial aid from Wayne Enterprises."

"Oh," was all I could manage, processing the information.

"She helped us on a case a few years ago," he explained. "And Batman did train her, though just a bit. She's actually pretty helpful to us at times."

"Oh," was all I could manage, again. On TV, Superman kept talking about how the world was in danger, and everyday seemed like it was getting closer to a violent uprising and 'great damage to whatever peace is left'. Well duh.

"So, who else know about this?" I asked.

"Eh, I'm not sure. It's really not a secret, but it's not something that we tell just anybody. So, you can tell other members of the Clan, but just keep it low with everyone else. Dinah may not want that tiny tidbit reach the League's ears."

"Well, she seemed kind of maf with me in the interrogation room earlier."

"Like I said before, she was trained by Batman, and she's pretty helpful to us at times. I contacted her, and she agreed to help."

I started to regret how I acted earlier, and then brushed it off. If she was acting, then she was good. I turned by attention to the TV.

After a few minutes, I couldn't talk it anymore. "Is he going to just keep on talking about the dangers of society and why the League's the 'heroes of the world' or will he actually introduce League Posse Junior anytime soon?"

Dick smiled "All in good time, Wally, all in good time."

'Good time' was a few minutes later, when, in a loud voice, he said "And now, it is my honor to introduce the next generation of the Justice League, the next generation of heroes who swear to protect this earth, and the next generation of heroes who vow to protect you!" A cheer went from the crowd, "Miss Martian, Superboy, Aqualad, Aquagirl, Wondergirl, Impulse, Lagoon Boy, Blue Beetle, Beast Boy, Bumblebee, Rocket and Supergirl!" the crowd roared louder than before as each of the heroes came to stand by Superman, with the rest of the League on the other side of the podium. I rolled my eyes.

"Whoopee, big deal," I said sarcastically.

There was a knock on our door "Room Service!"

"Yes, food" I cheered. Dick laughed as I ran toward the door. Hey, can't blame a guy for being hungry after not eating after such an odd day.

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**Any questions? I did proof read it, but i may have skipped over a few things. And yes, I did make Black Canary a 'Clan Fan'. It just seems to fit really.**

**Review! :)**


	3. Mission Assignment

**Hey guys! New chapter's up and I'm excited to see your reviews! (hint hint :P)**

**Sorry, it took so long. Between this, schoolwork, and my other story (which I still need to finish) things have been hectic. Anyway, while reading this, I think that some of you may have a few doubts, so I'll address them below. If you still need something explained, tell me. It may be explained later on in the story, but I'm not sure yet...**

**So, enjoy and review! :)**

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Chapter Two: Mission Assignment

(Wally POV)

When we got home the next day, we were attacked by a three year old who missed her father and brother.

And incredibly adorable three year who had mastered the puppy eyes so well that not even her stoic, seemingly heartless grandfather (Bruce) could say no too.

We were also greeted by a fellow red head of mine, whose civilian ID was wheelchair bound, but at night, was the ass-kicking Batgirl.

I saw them as soon as I stepped into the house. "Hello my fellow ginger!" I greeted her as she wheeled towards us with a hyperactive toddler in her lap.

"Hey Waldo," she returned the greeting, smiling at both me and Dick.

"Tati!" the hyperactive three-year old jumped off of her and ran towards us as soon as he stepped inside the rather large, yet somehow cheap, Victorian house.

Maria, like all three-year olds, still had baby fat on her cheeks. Her eyes were big, and her raven hair was slightly curly, apparently like Dick's mom. She looked exactly like Zee, except she had Dick's dark blue eyes instead of Zee's ice-blue ones. Dick laughed as his daughter ran towards him, and picked her up in a hug. She was small for her age, and looked even smaller in Dick's arms.

"Dor de mine?" Miss me? Dick laughed, asking her in Roma (**A/N The words are actually Romanian and translated on Google)**. I grinned at the two, before stepping inside and closing the door. He hugged her closely as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek.

Maria was pretty smart for a toddler. She can understand and speak Roma to Dick, Italian to Zee, Gaelic to me (Dick taught me, saying that it would be cool if I learned it since I was a hundred percent Irish) and English to anyone else. Her multi-linguist skill was probably an effect of the Syrup, a liquid that was injected into every Bat as a part of the induction ceremony. It enhanced our mind and body, making it easier for us to last longer on missions and take a larger hit. She is, in my opinion, a genetically altered child.

She nodded eagerly. "Wally," she twisted around to face me, holding out her arms expectantly.

"Hey there teddy bear!" I said cheerfully to her, dropping the backpack Dick brought for me on the ground. She giggled at my nickname for her as I took her into my arms. "How's it going?"

"Good" she giggled again, and kissed me on the cheek "(G) Tá tú maith?" Are you okay?

"Of course!" I exclaimed, grinning wildly at her. "(G) Ní Cén fáth go mbeadh liom a bheith?" Why wouldn't I be?

She laughed again, clapping her hands, and then throwing them around my neck.

"(I) Va bene amore, lasciarlo respirare," Alright love, let him breathe. I glanced over to find Zee standing by Dick, with her arm wrapped around his waist and her head on his shoulder, and Babs was next to them.

"Zee!" I cried. I ran towards her and gave her a one-armed hug, much to the delight of Maria "Long time no see."

"Two days," she replied, smiling easily "Not exactly one of your longest kidnappings."

"Nope," I replied popping the 'p'.

"So, Waldo, I hear that you've been kidnapped by the League," Babs leaned forward, resting her elbow on her knee "Do tell."

"Hey no 'hello' for me" Dick asked, placing a hand over his heart "I'm highly offended that you'd choose to ignore your big brother."

Babs rolled her eyes beneath her glasses "I already have one overprotective brother," she said "I don't need another one." She smirked at Dick's faux puppy face "Alright, come here twinkle toes" she extended her arms out for a hug. Dick hugged her, and kissed her at the top of her head.

"Welcome to Blüdhaven Babs," he smiled at his 'younger sister'.

"Thanks," she turned towards me "So Waldo, what happened?"

"Let's go to the living room first," Zee suggested.

We headed towards the living room with a very hyperactive three-year old showing her father a new, and another, stuff teddy bear she got from Babs, and chocolate from Jason and Harper, who were already here and waiting 'downstairs'. Dick shook his head, muttering that she's being spoiled.

Once we got there, I plopped down onto one of the two love seats and waited for Dick, Zee, and Maria to sit down as well. Once they did and Babs wheeled over to me, I retold everything that happened.

"Did you know that the first Black Canary was a member of the Clan?" Babs asked.

I looked at her in surprise "Out of all the things I just told you, that's what you decide to ask me?"

She grinned devilishly "Did you know that?"

"Well…no."

"So…yes"

"Alright Wally, how about 'The League is introducing their covert team to the world?'" she turned towards Dick as she asked this.

"Well, yeah I mean we all know that the definition of covert means loud and obvious" I said sarcastically.

"You know, you're sarcasm reminds me of a certain skunk haired Bird (**A/N A 'Bird' would mean one of the ex/current Robins: Dick, Jason, Tim, Stephanie, and Damian**) and another fellow red head who're waiting for you," Babs said.

I slightly scowled "Right, the mission," I said sourly.

Zee reached over and squeezed my hand "Wally, it'll go by fast. I promise you."

"Beidh sé ceart go leor, Wally," It'll be okay, Wally. Maria climbed out of Dick's lap, and climbed onto me, apparently sensing my sudden change in mood. She seemed to have made it one of her personal goals to make me feel better.

I smiled instantly, and hugged her tightly "Buíochas, Teddy Bear," Thanks Teddy Bear. I pressed my face into her hair, smelling her baby shampoo. For whatever reason, I always liked that smell.

"Vieni qui amore mio," Come here my love, Zee said, picking up Maris from my lap. "Lasciateli fare il loro lavoro ora." Let them do their work now. Maria happily went into her mother's arms.

As Dick and I walked out of the room, leaving the girls behind, Dick stopped and turned around. "By the way Babs, you never said why you were here in the first place."

Babs' eyes shone "Guess who got a job at the Blüdhaven public library."

"Congrats!" Dick said. "So you'll be patrolling with us from now on, right? Did you bring your stuff?"

She nodded "Jason and Harper helped me, seeing as they needed to be here anyway."

"Hey Babs," I grinned as a sudden thought crossed my mind "You're not here for _Bard_, are you?"

Judging by the blush on her face and Zee's knowing smile, she totally was, but she denied it "No, of course not."

"Whoa, do you mean Jason Robin Bard?" Dick scowled "The rookie?" Dick was an on-call detective at the Blüdhaven Police Department. He was on the Special Crimes Unit, the Blüdhaven version of the Major Crimes Unit in Gotham, although more selective in their dealings. Bard was a new guy that joined just a few months ago. And for some reason, Dick didn't like him, though it may have something to do with the fact that Bard liked Babs. The two were 'college sweat hearts'. Babs' older, biological brother, Jeff, didn't like Bard either.

Before she could answer, Zee got up and ushered us out the room "Go, it's almost time for dinner, and I don't want you guys talking for so long." She pushed us out the room.

Still grinning, I grabbed Dick's elbow and pulled him along "Alright brother bear, the time to be overprotective is not now."

I led him down the hall and into the basement. There were old boxes in there, and a bunch of other stuff that we, Zee, Dick, and me, always vow to get rid of, but never really have the time to do so. I led him through the room, and we stopped in front of a 'locked' closet.

But the 'locked closet' led to our destination.

After opening it with a key he always kept in his utility belt (keep on at all times unless bathing or engaged in a fierce fight involving nerf guns, water guns, water balloons, and Mexican food), Dick opened the door to a small storage room. I carefully closed the door behind me, before following him to a large pile of boxes that also seemed to be in there since forever. I helped him push those aside to reveal yet another door, though this one was smaller and much more easily concealed.

"Ready?" he asked me. I nodded briefly. He stepped through and, after a light flashed, I followed after him, closing the door behind me.

Inside was a large Zeta tube. It would get us to places all across the globe, provided that they had a Zeta tube there of course. "Strike, Assignment Blüdhaven to Night-Cave," I told the machine. I didn't bother closing my eyes as a white light nearly blinded them. A few seconds later, I arrived in the Night-Cave, Dick's version of the Bat Cave.

The Night-Cave was a large room about the size of a football field, about 160 X 360 yards (**A/N Including the end zone**) and way below the house. To our right was the training room and hangar. To the left was the changing room. And right before us was the main computer, several tables with all things science, tech, and magic on them, a metal table in the middle (one that could pull up a holographic computer if needed), our 'extra weapons' and uniform closets and the three most important things of all; a large couch, which currently had a bored Jason lying on it, a complex and advanced coffee machine, which Dick immediately zoomed over to, no doubt make a vanilla cappuccino, and a very large fridge, which was being raided by Harper, the one-armed ginger.

"Ice-cream," he held out _my_ tub of ice-cream "Score."

I narrowed my eyes.

"Dude hands off," I snapped, running over to him and snatching it out of his hand.

"Never knew cookies and cream was your thing," he snickered.

"Dude, just please respect the fact that it's _mine_," I shot back. Harper held up his hand.

"Just sayin'," he replied, smirking. Harper was three years older than me. He looked exactly like his clone, Roy, except much younger due to being held in ice-container that stopped his body aging for quite a few years.

"If you two are done bickering, then we can get to work," Jason called. I turned to find him and Dick already sitting down at the center table, Dick nursing his precious coffee.

I sat down between the two with Harper in front of me. "So what's up?" I asked.

"Cult of the Kobra being your typical I'm-going-to-force-you-to-convert-into-our-religion jerks and planning on turning a whole bunch of people into their 'religion'." Jason said bluntly, pulling up a computer screen that showed all the details "They've hired a gang to do their dirty work for them. And now it's our job to stop them from infecting any more people and cure the ones who've already been infected."

"Antidote?" Dick asked.

"Ready and prepped by Bats himself," Harper said. Jason pulled out a backpack from underneath the table.

"The antidotes in here," he said "Each in a hundred millimeter needle bottle, or whatever the hell you're supposed to call them. Fifty mL for the just infect while a full hundred for those infected for more than a day. We've located a total of a hundred people infected in Central, and nowhere else, so far."

"So that's where I come in," I noticed "I run around quickly, injecting the people with the antidote, and then there'll be some ass-kicking."

"Not exactly in that order, but yeah, pretty much," Jason smirked "You in kid?"

I thought for a moment "About the stabbing people with the needle, if we don't want them to notice, then how am I going to do that 'quickly'?" I asked, using air quotes. My powers involve super-speed, but whenever I speed up beyond a certain limit, I generate lightening around myself, making me light up like a Christmas tree.

Harper snorted "You haven't seen them yet?"

"We just got back," Dick said, taking a sip of his drink "I haven't even told him yet."

"Haven't told me what yet?" I asked, curiously.

Dick got up and walked over to the spare uniform closet, which was, frankly, as large as my bedroom. He walked out carrying something that looked nothing like my uniform.

My uniform was grey with a red bat on the chest, black gloves, and black boots, complete with a red utility belt. And the shoulder and knee pads would stick out too much. However, as he unfolded the uniform before me, it was way cooler than mine.

It was a very dark grey, almost black. There was a light shade of grey that would cover my abs and my chest, forming a T on my torso, and there was a strap of that same shade of grey running down the side of the legs. A large, dark purple bat was embedded on the chest. The gloves were the same shade of purple as well as the boots. There were still shoulder and knee pads, but they weren't as obvious. My cowl was the same; it covered my entire head except for my mouth and hair. It may have also the same charm on it that the other one had, a charm to make my hair appear black. My eyes widened as I gently fingered the fabric. "What type of fabric is this?" I asked, not recognizing it.

"Remember Project Diamond?" he asked me. I nodded. A few months ago, we stopped a shipment of a rare type of diamond, one with such unique properties that we were pretty sure it wasn't from Earth. I helped Batman figure out its properties along with Red Robin, seeing as how the three of us had the most scientific knowledge out of the rest of the Clan. The diamond could easily blend itself with any material, giving those material properties that will make it stronger, more enduring, and a sort of very flexible armor. It could do terrible things in the hands of the wrong person. Batman called that type of diamond "The Omi Crystal". I named it 'The Wall-man's Diamond', feeling justified in the fact that I had done most of the work.

"So…" I said slowly, realizing what he meant "I have a uniform made of diamond?"

"Duh," Harper crossed his arms.

"And not only that, but Bats' enforced everything with it," Dick added "Apparently, it's quite easy to make once you get it to grow in the right conditions. It also absorbs energy, though to a point. It'll absorb some of you 'electrical' energy and won't make you glow as much."

"And it also means that I got a diamond-arm," Harper grinned, referring to his robotic arm that could shoot several missiles and other things.

"Sweet," I grinned "So I guess I did miss out on a lot."

"It's pretty pathetic that you got yourself captured by the League of all people," Harper commented.

"Hey, it was an ambush," I defended myself.

"Yeah, well if we're done here," Jason said, closing the screen and standing up. "I'm hungry. Zee make anything to eat yet?"

Dick shrugged, amused "Maybe, let's go and see. And by the way, were the chocolates really necessary?"

Jason and Harper grinned at Dick. "What can I say Dickie-Bird, she's my niece. She has every right to be spoiled."

"Dude, she's the baby of the Clan," Harper added "She's supposed to be spoiled."

Dick just shook his head in disbelief. "Let's go upstairs. Wally and I have a long drive ahead of us."

Jason frowned "What do you mean? You're not taking the Zeta?"

I frowned as well "You don't know?" All three of us looked at Dick, who sheepishly smiled.

"Well…Wally's going to stay at her house," he explained.

The other two Bats frowned "Why?" Jason asked, while Harper looked confused, not knowing who 'she' was. This time, I looked at Dick, wanting to know the answer as well.

"Well, you see we didn't know that he was kidnapped so we waited for him until sunrise, and then we knew that something was wrong when he didn't show." Dick explained, "But just before I left the house, she called and asked us if Wally wanted to stay over for a few days during spring break." By now, he was rocking back and forth on his heels. "And I figured that since you guys have an easy mission there as well, maybe it wouldn't hurt if Wally stayed there. She said that her husband was going away for a few days, spending time with his friends from work on a field trip. So, it'd be easy. Wally could easily sneak out of the house, work on the mission with you guys during the night, and then come back to the house just before everyone wakes up."

"You didn't think it through, did you?" I asked quietly. Jason and Harper, sensing the change in my mood, muttered excuses and walked away, the Zeta tube flashing as they left.

Once they left, Dick put down his cappuccino "Wally-"

"Don't Wally me!" I shouted. "You just didn't think it through! Don't you know how much she hurt me? Don't you get how she didn't stop what was happening?"

"Wally I know!"

"Then why did you say yes?"

"Because this wasn't the first time she called asking for you!"

"It doesn't matter if it's the second time-"

"Not the second, Wally, but a hell lot more than that," Dick cut me off. Stunned, I stood there gaping at him, blinking once.

Dick sighed and run a hand through his hair. He picked up his cappuccino again, and motion for me to sit on couch. He sat next to me. "Look Wally, the first time she called was all those years ago, when I decided to adopt you. But after that, she kept calling. At first, she really wanted you back. Then I kind of just yelled at her, saying that she shouldn't have the right to you after she was rarely in your life. She confessed. She was so guilty Wally, about her actions. She just wanted to talk to you, to make it up to you. She would regularly call, asking about you. We both agreed that you may not want to talk to her yet. I introduced her to Zee, and they become friends. So when she called again yesterday morning…we told her yes."

I clenched my jaw "You've been talking with her, for _years_. You've been talking to a woman who was barely there for me, and you choose to let me stay with her for a few days? What were you thinking?"

How could he do that to me? I thought that he knew better then that! I thought that he knew what I felt about that! And here he was, telling me otherwise.

Dick sighed again "You're right Wally; she was barely there for you. But when she was, she cared a lot about you, more than your parents ever did in your entire life. She's not like your dad, she won't hurt you, and she's not like your mom, she doesn't hate you. She's your aunt Wally, and I think you should give her a chance to make things up. I believe in that and in what she said."

I stayed quiet, thinking about what he had said. As much as I hate to admit it, he was right. Looking back, Iris was there for me. She cared about me and always bought me a present. It wasn't her fault that my parents yelled at me for 'wasting her money'. It wasn't her fault that dad would…beat me up for being a waste of space in their lives.

Dick seemed to know what I was thinking, because he pulled me into a hug. I leaned into him, hugging him back just as fiercely. "if you don't want to go," he started saying softly.

"No, I'll give this a try," I gulped, trying to push thoughts about my parents back into the corner of my mind. "If, like you said, she really cared about me, then everything will be fine. It'll be okay." I hope, I added silently in my mind.

"It will be, Wally, I promise," Dick whispered. We let go, and without another word, headed toward the Zeta Tube and dinner.

I mean, hey, dinner can only wait for so long with Zee's cooking right?

* * *

**Okay. Just to clear a few things up:**

**Maria will generally talk to Zee in Italian, Dick in Roma (which, btw, in this story is just Google-translated Romanian), Wally in Gaelic and everyone else in English, though she will have a cute little accent.**

**Babs goes out at night in her Batgirl costume because her legs aren't as bad as every non-Bat would think they are. They are still weak, so her Bat-girl costume has 'leg support'.**

**Wally's seems slightly bipolar in this doesn't he? My point was to show how Dick and Maria (and later on Zee) can always calm him down.**

**Um...aha! Wally's cookies and cream ice-cream tub belongs to him and only him. Don't touch! :)**

**That's all i can think of right now...oh wait! The t-shirts! A reviewer (I'm sorry, I can't recall your name right now!) has imagined T-Shirts with the words 'Clan Fan' and Leaguer Fever...the only hint I can give my other readers is that great minds think alike :)**

**So please press that little button down there and review! **


	4. Arrival

**Alright! I'm on a roll here! Thanks so much for all of your reviews! They mean a lot to me! And as a reward, I'm posting up a new chapter! Enjoy and review!**

* * *

I woke up the next morning with a small lump of warmth next to next. Maria had a habit of sneaking into either my bed or Dick and Zee's if she got scared. I wrapped my arms around her, and pulled her closer. She nuzzled into my chest.

"Hey Maria," I whispered as I pressed my face into her hair "fuair scanraithe?" Got scared?

She nodded sleepily, and gripped my shirt. I chuckled and glanced at my clock. It read seven; my flight leaves at nine-thirty and I was supposed to be check-in at least forty-five minutes before departure.

I mentally moaned; I never was a morning person. "I have to get up now," I told her in Gaelic. She stubbornly shook her head. "Come, Teddy bear, I have to go now."

"Aon," No, she muttered. I slowly sat up in bed. Maria wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. There was a slight knock at the door, and Babs' head popped in.

"Rise and shine Wally," she smiled at us.

"A little help Babs," I muttered. She laughed softly, and took Maria, who gladly went with her aunt.

"I'll take her to my room," she said softly as Maria curled up in her lap, and clung to her neck like a koala.

After the two left the room, I quickly stuff a few pieces of clothes into a suitcase. Then, I took a quick shower and changed into my street clothes; black, ripped skinny jeans, my blue and green Vans skater shoes, a green t-shirt and Dick's old Blüdhaven Police Academy jacket. My room was on the first floor. Babs' was just across the hall from mine. To the right of my door, there was a small staircase that led to the bedrooms upstairs.

I found Dick and Zee in the kitchen. "Morning" I greeted; both of them returned it.

Dick was leaning against the island, in his police garb with a coffee cup in hand. I frowned as I looked at Dick, "Did Amy call?" I questioned. Colonel Amy Rohrbach was in charge of the BPD Special Crimes Unit. She knew about our 'nightly activities, and was the one who decided that Dick would be an 'on-call' detective.

Dick nodded as he took a sip of his coffee "Yeah, she wants me to take a case with the rookie," he scowled; no doubt that rookie was Bard. "Everyone else is busy with one case or another. I swear she's going to work us to death."

I nodded "So, I get to ride a plane by myself?"

Dick smirked. "Its okay if you're scared, Wally. Zee can come with you to hold your hand."

I rolled my eyes "Ha ha, hilarious."

"And breakfast is ready," Zee turned around, holding two plates of bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast. She frowned as she looked at me. "You are _not_ wearing those jeans to your aunt's house."

"But I wear them to-"

"Ekam sih naej seloh raeppasid!" she said. The holes in my jeans disappeared.

"Aw, come on Zee!" I whined.

"And did you pack your clothes properly?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she handed Dick his plate. "Or did you just shove them in randomly.

"Uh…I plead the fifth?" I hesitated while Dick snickered and starting eating his breakfast.

"Ezinagro sih esactius!" she said as she handed me my plate. I didn't need to check my bag to know that it was all organized by now.

"Thanks Mom," I mumbled.

"You're welcome," she kissed me on the cheek. "I'll go check on Maria now."

"She's in Babs' room," She nodded thanks to me, and left. I quickly ate my breakfast, and then stole Dick's.

"Hey!" he protested.

I shrugged, looking innocent "What can I say? I'm a growing boy, you're eating too slowly and you deserved it." I pointed my fork at him.

Dick mumbled under his breath as he got more scrambled eggs and bacon. After we were finished, Dick motioned me to follow him. We stopped at the front door, and he handed me a black backpack with a red Bat emblem on it as well as red zippers.

"This will be your 'work backpack'" he told me as he gave it to me. He showed me how my uniform was safely put away inside the backpack so that no one could tell it was there in the first place. There was a pair of sunglasses, a mini laptop that connected to the 'Bat network' and my small lab kit. He even showed me my new belt; he took the old one away after patrol last night, saying that he would 'fix it up'.

The new belt was purple, and had fewer, but large compartments then the ones before. "In this pouch," Dick tapped the large center pouch, "is an extra pair of gloves, a domino mask, and a handkerchief, in case you need to act while in your civilian clothes, for this mission or any other."

"Sweet," I breathed, looking through the other pouches. It had everything in my other pouch, and more. "Dick, this is awesome." I slide it under my t-shirt.

"And one more thing," he walked back into the kitchen, and a few minutes later, came out carrying a small box. It was a metal box with a small latch that locked it.

"Do I really need that?" I asked, scowling. I took the box, and carefully placed it in my bag.

He sighed "I know you didn't have an…episode for a few months, but remember what Alisha said?" Alisha Gupta was the doctor who treated us for our numerous injuries on patrols, ones that Zee couldn't heal immediately.

"I could have another one at any given time," I sighed in annoyance. "Better safe them sorry."

When Dick first found me in the ally and took me to Alisha, she said that I may not live to see another day. That's when Dick kind of recklessly inserted the Syrup in me. At first, I reacted badly to it, but I eventually recovered. But when the Syrup and the medicine that Alisha put me one reacted, they gave me to unforeseen consequences. One was my speed and minimal electricity control. I could run as fast as the Flash, and control just minor electrical currents, as well as being immune to that extent.

The other was the virus. There were two large clusters of it in my brain. One attached itself onto the right side of my brain, more specifically the limbic system, which has to do with my emotions. There was another one that covered both my cerebellum and brain steam. It rewired my nervous-system, so that if I feel really sad, angry, lost hurt, or really the emotions I feel when I recall any memory of what happened with my parents (the feelings were…really strong), then the virus in my the right part of my brain would send signals to my cerebellum and brain steam, signals to start shutting down.

Pretty soon, I would start to feel dizzy, nausea, off balance, highly uncoordinated, unawareness of my surroundings, high blood pressure, problem digesting, fast heart rate, and I need to consciously breathe. And depended on how bad it was, my body could completely shut-down. As a matter of fact, if there weren't any tumors surrounding most of the virus cluster in my limbic system, then I would literally have to have no feeling at all in order to stop my 'episodes'.

All-in-all, I had my very own personal self-destructed time bomb, which can always be reset to different times. I almost died because of that once, but the fear of death kept me alive.

I didn't want to bring that with me. Heck, not a lot of people know about. But, just in case, if anything happens, then it would be nice to tease death and live for at least few months longer.

"Alright," I sighed "Does Iris know about this?"

"I told her the gist of it, but didn't go through any details," Dick replied.

"Put in the fridge after you arrive," he instructed. I nodded.

"And Wally, j-you'll be fine," I looked up at him to find him grinning like an idiot, but his eyes told me that he was really worried.

I hated worrying him, or Zee. After all, they were the ones who gave me another chance. They gave me hope, and I swear that I can't find people I love and cared for more than Dick, Zee, and Maria, and to an extent, the rest of the Clan.

"I'll be fine," I assured him and myself, a little. I smiled "Less than a week, right?"

He ruffled my hair and hugged me "The plane leaves in two hours; make sure you're not late."

"I won't be," I told him as he let go. He smiled at me, saluted, and left.

(Page Break)

Two hours later, I was sitting in the plane, relaxing in my seat. I told my goodbyes to Jason and my fellow redheads at home while Zee and Maria dropped me off at the airport. I promised Maria to get her a present. Zee rolled her eyes and said that I was spoiling her. Maria giggled.

I didn't know how, but I somehow managed to get all of my stuff through security without any hassles. I sat in between a rather flustered looking businessman, who looked rather annoyed at being next to a teenager who played his music too loud, and a pregnant woman who wouldn't shut-up. Apparently, it was her first flight, and she was pretty sure that the plane would crash and fall.

The flight there took five hours, seeing as Central City was all the way in Colorado. During that time, I decided and managed to befriend the businessman man (Jay Herald) and the pregnant chatterbox (Martha Lenox). I also managed to get a summer internship at Wayne Enterprises R&D Blüdhaven Branch. Apparently, Jay ran that building, and was quite impressed at my knowledge in science. He also seemed to know what he was talking about, so he knew that I wasn't pretending. And Martha Lenox turned out to be a member of the Special Crimes Units who was staying with her sister in Central City for her maternity leave.

Huh, small world.

As a matter of fact, I mentioned this to the two of them, and soon, Martha and I started singing 'It's a small world after all'. Soon, everyone else in the coach section of the plan was singing. We only stopped because the air hostess told us that people up in business and first class were 'distracted'.

Stupid snobby, rich people

"So Wally," Martha said after she finished laughing, "Do you know anyone from the SCU?"

"As a matter of fact I do," I replied, putting my iPod safely away in my pocket "Dick Grayson? He's my foster father."

Her eyes widened, and I heard the businessman gasp "OH!" she kind of screamed. People looked at her, and turned away, some muttering about 'hormones' and 'pregnant women'.

"Oh, of course, I should have known! I mean, you did say that your name was Wally Grayson." Martha smiled "So how's Dick? I haven't seen anyone at the station since I took my leave a month ago."

"He's fine," I told her "He's taking up a case with Bard."

Martha nodded "Bard's a good kid. I don't understand why Dick seemed to be so irritated with him at times."

I grinned, debating on whether or not I should tell her why when Jay asked "Dick Grayson? I thought he was the Executive Director of the Blüdhaven Wayne Tech R&D?"

"Well, he's only an on-call detective," I told him "So he does spend most of his time at Wayne Tech."

Martha frowned "Doesn't he own Haley's Circus as well? I heard him mention something like that a few months ago."

"Oh he does," I told her "But Zee has co-ownership rights to it." Martha nodded.

"He must be a busy man," Jay observed.

"At times, but otherwise, he's pretty free actually," I said. He nodded as well.

The rest of the trip passed on without incident. I occasionally talked with Jay or Martha, and in the end took a nap. Martha shook me awake.

"We're here," she said.

I helped carry her bag off the plane, and then parted ways with them at the gate, after helping Martha find and load her luggage.

"Good luck Wally," Jay said, shaking my hand. "I hope to see you in the summer!"

"Thanks, Mr. Herald," I replied "I'll see you then!"

Martha hugged me "Take care Wally."

"You too, Martha," I replied "Hey if it's a boy, can you name him Walter?"

"After you?" she smiled.

"Well, not exactly," I told her "But the nickname Wally's still the same."

She laughed "We'll see." I waved good-bye to the two of them before leaving. As I left, I heard Jay asking Martha if he could give her a ride to where she needed to go. I smiled to myself; and another point for the Wall-man!

I couldn't see Iris anywhere, so I stopped by the Starbucks and bought a muffin and a coffee. The airlines I went on didn't provide any food, and my stomach was killing me. As I ate, I watched the people around the small eating area. It looked like people from different parts of the country were visiting Central City, most of the businessmen and women. I frowned, wondering whether it had anything to do with some sort of fair or convention; or maybe even the Cult and the gang it hired. I slightly narrowed my eyes.

Just as I finished my muffin, "Wally?" I turned around to find a ginger haired women with emerald eyes like mine, around thirty years old. She carried a toddler on one side and a purse hung from her other shoulder.

"Oh, hey, Aunt Iris," I said, my eyes darting to my coffee.

"Sorry, I'm late; heavy traffic," When I looked up again, she looked worried, biting her bottom lip.

"Do you want to sit down?" I asked "I mean, you probably don't want to, after sitting down for a long time but…" I trailed off. I always got chatty when I was nervous.

"No, it's fine," Iris took a seat in front of me. "It's actually a pretty big airport. I'll admit that I got lost a little on the way here."

"Mommy?" the girl on her shoulder woke up, rubbing her eyes.

"Hey sweetie," Iris said, her voice soft and gentle…like the one she used with me when I was younger. I tightened my grip on my coffee. "You awake now huh?"

The girl nodded. She looked like nothing Iris, especially with her blonde hair, save for her emerald eyes and her thin nose, which also looked like mine. "Who's that?" she mumbled, one eye looking at me while the other was being rubbed.

"This is your cousin, Wally," Iris introduced me. "He's going to stay with us for a while."

"Hi Wally," the girl said shyly.

I gave her a small smile "Hey, what's your name?"

"Bella"

"Bella; that's a pretty name for a pretty girl," I winked at her and held out my hand. She giggled, and took it.

"Bella sweetie, do you want a little snack?" Iris asked, brushing Bella's blonde hair out of her eyes.

"No mommy,"

"Alright then, we'll leave when Wally's finished."

My coffee grew cold by then "I'm done," I said. We got up, and I threw my coffee on the way out.

Getting out of the airport took a long time. Iris and I didn't really speak with each other, kind of awkward around after seeing each other for the first time after everything happened. Bella insisted on talking with me when I mentioned how I had a little sister her age back home. She kept asking me questions on what she was like, and wanted to know whether Maria like the same things she did. I answered them as much as I can.

At first, the car ride to her house was uneventful, until Bella fell asleep again. After a few minutes of an awkward silence, I asked "So, I heard you got married?"

"Uh yeah, I did." Iris answered; her eyes on the road "Barry Allen."

"I met him before" I commented "He came around once or twice right?"

"Yeah, he did."

"He had a younger son, but he stayed with his grandparents, that day. But, Barry was your boyfriend at that time, right?"

"Yes, we uh got married four years ago." Iris glanced over at me. "His son's name is Bart."

"Bart," I repeated. "So, you must know a lot about me, but I really know nothing about you."

She sensed the slight hardness in my voice "Wally-"

"I know you've been talking with Dick and Zee," I kept my eyes focused on the city outside. So much changed when I lived there, but so much stayed the same. For one, it was cleaner. "Dick told me last night, right when he told me that he just said yes to you without asking."

"Wally, I'm sorry," she blurted out. I blinked in surprised, but didn't say anything else otherwise. "I'm so sorry. I was so blind! I mean, I really wanted to be this great news reporter and I…I just let my ambition blind me to what was really happening. I mean, how could I be so stupid? You were always so hunger, and so thin. I-I should have realized what was going on. I mean, Rudy he-"

"Its fine," I cut her off sharply, noticing that she was about to cry. "What happened had happened. You weren't always there before, and I was hurt…a lot. But you're here now, and we're just going to try and work things out. I can't forgive you for what happened right away, but maybe someday. I'll forgive eventually, but just…not now." I stopped myself before I could say anything else. My throat tightened, and tears threaten to spill. But God, I think…things can work right. I hope at least.

'_No,'_ I thought firmly as I clenched my jaw, '_You're not going to cry Wally, not now, not in public. Just _keep it together.'

My phone buzzed as I received a text. Checking, I found that it was Jason.

**Jason**- You there yet?

**Me**-On the way

The reply came quickly.

**Jason**-Got here, everything's set txt bak when arrived; will tell u rendezvous point

**Me**-k; saw lots of business people airport; may-b something 2 do w/object.?

A response came after a few minutes.

**Jason**- Maybe-will look into it

"You're right," Iris said, sniffing "You're right; we're going to work this out."

We stayed quiet for a few minutes, both of us calming down. "Are Barry and Bart here?" I switched topics, figuring we should talk about something else.

"No, Barry's having this trip with a few people at work, and Bart wanted to go with him, so we'll have half of spring break all to ourselves," Iris said "We can do anything you want, anything at all." I nodded, but stayed silent.

"Do you want anything for dinner?" Iris asked "We can pick something up while we head back."

"Anything is fine," I said, looking at my hands. On second thought, "Actually, do you know that Chinese restaurant on the corner of Colby and Stones', the one I liked, Min Chin's? Do you think we could go there?"

Iris gave me a small smile "Definitely."

So maybe, Dick was right. Things can work out after all.

Damn, I hope I didn't just jinx that.

* * *

**Someone had asked me if they can know all the names of the Titans. Any more requests of this and I'll post up the names of all those members the next time I update. Don't worry, the action between the Bats and Leaguers will happen in a few more chapters. After that, some more angst, hatred, and all that stuff. So, for now, I'll give you gives a fluff, and hopefully (as it will tell me that I'm a good writer) a growing sense of dread :P**

**Please review!**


	5. List of Heroes

**Hey guys! Sorry for the false alarm, but this is not a chapter! Now, speaking of chapter, I got about eleven reviews for chapter two and like three for chapter three...what's up with that?**

**Anyway, below, as asked, is a list of all the Bats and Leaguers. I have a few OCs, and Oocs as well. I didn't put the Titans separately from the rest of the Bats because I wanted to show how the Bats are really equal, just divided into a group of older members and younger members with the latter being able to choose to quit once they're eighteen, or just continue for a few more years. On the other hand, Young Justice is to show two different levels of 'skill and experience'. The Justice League handles the big stuff, while YJ handles the smaller stuff, and aren't considered as experienced.**

**Chapter Four is on the way! I hope to finish it soon! Enjoy and R&R!**

* * *

*Titans, OC

_Bat Clan:_

**Gotham City:**

Batman- Bruce Wayne, 42 years

*Robin-Damian Wayne, 13 yrs

Batwoman-Kate Kane, 32 yrs

*Flamebird-Bette Kane, 17 yrs

Catwoman- Selina Kyle, 38 yrs

Red Hood- Jason Todd, 22 yrs

*Abuse- Collin Wilkes, 13 yrs

**New York:**

Owl man-Thomas Wayne Jr., 37 yrs (Technically, this character is more of an Ooc, because the real Thomas Wayne Jr. was mad and died, and Owlman is the bad version of Batman)

*Talon- Anna Wayne, 12 yrs (Daughter of Owlman)

*Red Robin- Tim Drake-Wayne, 19 yrs (He became an intern CFO of Wayne Enterprises in New York at the age of seventeen when he graduated high school.)

*Spoiler- Stephanie Brown, 18 yrs

Beyond- Terry McGinnis, 24 yrs

**Blüdhaven:**

Nightwing –Dick Grayson, 27 yrs

Mistress Magic- Zee Grayson, 26 yrs

*Strike- Wally Grayson, 14 yrs

Batgirl-Babs Gordon, 22 yrs

**Star City:**

Green Arrow- Ollie Queen, 33 yrs

Red Arrow-Roy Harper, 21 yrs

*Speedy- Mia Deardon, 16 yrs

*Arsenal- Will Harper, 17 yrs

**Predators:**

Huntress-Helena Bertinelli, 23 yrs

Cheshire-Jade Nguyen, 20 yrs

*Tigress- Lian Nguyen, 17 yrs

*Arrowette- Cissie King-Jones, 16yrs

*Archer Green- Artemis Nguyen14 yrs

**Bat Inc.**

Batwing of Congo- David Zavimbe, 30 yrs

The Hood of England- George Cross, 31 yrs

El Gaucho of Argentina- Santiago Vargas, 28 yrs

Nightrunner of Paris- Bilal Asselah, 29 yrs

Mister Unknown of Tokyo- Jiro Osamu, 28 yrs

*Black Bat of Hong Kong- Cassandra Cain, 20 yrs

*Tempest of Atlantis- Kaldur'ahm!, 16 yrs

**Civilians who help out Clan:**

Agent A-Alfred, 65 yrs

G.C Commissioner James Gordon- 50 yrs

Bludhaven Commissioner John Blake-38 yrs

Homicide Detective Renee Montez- 31 yrs

Colonel Amy Rohrbach-35 yrs

Doctor Alisha Gupta-55 yrs

Doctor Leslie Thompson-62 yrs

Captain Jeffrey Gordon of GCPD's MCU-25 yrs

Detective Jason Robin Bard-22 yrs

* * *

_Justice League:_

Superman- Clark Kent/Kal-El

Wonder Woman- Diana 'Prince'

Green Lantern John Stewart

Flash- Barry Allen

Martian Manhunter- John Jones/ J'onn J'onzz

Hawk woman- Shayera Hal

Hawk man- Carter Hal

Aquaman- King Orin

Green Lantern Hal Jordon

Black Canary- Dinah Laurel Lance

Captain Marvel- Billy Batson

Red Tornado- John Smith

Captain Atom-Nathanial C. Adams

Dr. Fate- Giovanni Zatara

The Atom- Dr. Ray Palmer

Icon-Augustus Freeman

Plasticman-Patrick "Eel" O'Brian

_Young Justice:_

Miss Martian- Megan Morse/ M'Gann M'Orzz

Superboy- Conner Kent/ Con-El

Wondergirl- Cassie Sandmark

Aqualad- Garth

Supergirl- Kara Zor-El

Aquagirl- Tula

Rocket- Raquel Ervin

Lagoon Boy- La'gaan

Blue Beetle- Jaime Reyes

Bumblebee- Karen Beecher

Beast Boy- Garfield Logan

Kid Flash- Bart Allen

* * *

**I'll have more tidbits and back ground info for you guys as the story progresses! I do know where the first few chapters are heading, but still, I'm open to ideas. Once again, enjoy and R&R. :)**


	6. Jinxed

**Okay my dear readers. There're two things official now. One: The chapter's up! and Two: i really need someone PM me about updating. You see, i get lost in the despair of not knowing what to write when all i need to do is just write...and then someone pms or reviews, and i feel guilty so i had to finish it in one day (like all of my essays :P) and then update it that day or the next. lucky for you guys, i guess, i'm updating it the same day! However, i'm kind of tired right now, so i may have missed a few things in my writing.**

**Oh, and one more thing. If i don't update for another three weeks, then someone should PM. You'll definitely get a chapter up within two days! (unless life happens...which now i'm pretty sure it will now onwards, but it can't hurt to try!)**

**Ask me any questions, please critic (no flames people) as for my updating skills...please leave them alone. i know what i'm doing wrong, i'm working on it. Just know that no matter how long it takes, even if it's a year, i'll always keep this story going, even if i have to take it down and re-post it , or call it complete before it's finished.**

**However, what i can tell you, is that i have plethora (new favorite word) of story ideas for YJ, and i can't wait to share them all! One thing though...Wally never died. It was all a lie, an illusion. You see, CN's director (I'm making up the following) has a child who loves YJ, whose favorite character is Wally. The child is also spoiled. In order to take revenge for the cancellation of the show, DC killed of Wally. So now the director has to face hell. Oh, and as for Damian Wayne...it wasn't the actual writer, but a rich drunk who's delusional (i'm sorry, i come up with the oddest things when i'm tired)**

**Anyway R&R and enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter Four: Jinxed

I jinxed myself.

At first, nothing bad happened. We picked up the Chinese food at Min Chin's, and Bella had woken up and was on a talking rampage. Iris and I were a little bit more comfortable around each other. She asked me about where I lived (when she got the chance), and told me that she used to live in Gotham City before they moved to Blüdhaven when she was fourteen. Then, they lived in the West quarter of 'Haven, near Inner City, the center of Blüdhaven where all schools, business centers, and other important buildings were. I was kind of surprised that she had lived there. It's one of the worst areas in Blüdhaven.

And then we drove to her house. The journey was nice, and I also texted Jason, telling him that I'd be there in five minutes; I recognized the neighborhood from when I visited years ago.

And then, just as I see the house, I got a bad feeling. I'm pretty sure that we all noticed him at the same time, but Bella the first one to shout out. "Mommy, Wally look! Daddy's here!"

Barry Allen was standing on the porch, looking sheepish if anything. He had blonde hair with pale green eyes. He wore khaki pants, an olive green dress shirt, a dark red sweater vest, a black tie and black dress shoes.

He opened the door for Iris as soon after she parked it in the driveway.

"Hey Iris, uh hey Wally" he greeted us, though he looked a little nervous. I sniggered.

"Daddy!" Bella shouted, taking off her seatbelt, as her father opened her door.

"Hey Beller-Steller," Barry opened the door, and laughed as Bella jumped into his arms.

"Barry, what's going on?" Iris asked, suspicious as she climbed out of the door. I climbed out as well; my backpack slung over one shoulder and the Chinese food in the other hand.

"Uh, well you see," Barry started. He took a deep breath and said in rather a rush "The reservations at the campsite got cancelled somehow, and my colleagues brought their kids as well, and they were disappointed, so I offered to let them stay at our house for Spring Break, and then I kind of remembered that Wally was staying over and you planned some aunt-nephew bonding time for a few days of spring break, but it was too late to say no cause…well…we were here." I frowned slightly at that. Something about the way he said it made me suspicious.

"Oh Barry," Iris sighed. "Wally, I'm so sorry about this."

I shrugged like I didn't care, but truthfully, I screaming about how screwed this mission was and how it's probably doomed to fail. "It's cool," I said, while mentally shouting that it was anything but 'cool'.

"How many people are here?" Iris asked, opening the truck. I handed her the Chinese food while taking my bag.

"Well, there's Bart of course," Barry started "Then Megan, Conner, Cassie, Karen, Jaime, Kara, and Megan's parakeet Garfield." He nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

A parakeet named Garfield? Seriously? "And don't worry about dinner," he quickly added "I ordered pizza for them, and me."

We didn't speak as we walked up the steps and into the house. I left my suitcase by the door, with Barry promising that he'll bring it up later. I stuck with my backpack though; I don't trust a lot of people with my chemistry kit.

"Wally, why don't' you go with Bella and Barry to meet the others while I put these things away in the kitchen?" Iris asked me.

"Actually, I need to put something away…" I trailed off as she nodded.

Barry frowned, but didn't say anything. "Then Bella and I will go into the living room. Come on Beller-Steller!"

Bella nodded obediently before grabbing her father's hand and leading him to the living room. I followed Iris into the kitchen, and immediately headed towards the fridge and opened it.

It was jam packed with food. "Umm…"

"Here," Iris opened a closet next to the fridge, and pulled out a cooler. "We can move some of the food in here."

"Oh, no it's fine," I told. "I think I'll just my…medicine in there. I didn't have an uh episode since six months, so I should be good. It only needs to be cold if I'm in danger of having an episode with only a few days in between. So the cooler's fine." I stopped, seeing that I started to ramble on.

Iris smiled, "If it's alright Wally, then of course. But, are you sure?"

I nodded "Positive. I just need a little ice" She pulled out a few medium sized bags from the freezer, and placed them inside. I knelt next to the cooler, and pulled out the small black box from my backpack, and placed it in the cooler.

"A Bat Clan bag," Iris commented "Nice."

I blinked, surprised "Wait, you know the Bat Clan?"

"Wally, I have lived in Gotham for fourteen years of my life, five of which were spent listening in awe about the Dark Knight," Iris smiled.

I grinned sheepishly at her "Oh, right." I closed the cooler and my backpack, before swinging it over my shoulder and motioned her to lead the way into the living room. "Hey, you know, I sell t-shirts."

She stopped and looked back at me "T-Shirts?"

"Yeah, you see, a friend of mine, Anita, has cancer. We sell them to raise money for her treatments. They have all the different types of Bat-symbols on them." I told her. "If you want one, I could always send you one for fifty percent off."

"Whoa, that's really nice of you Wally," Iris commented, but didn't say anything else. I slightly frowned at that, and followed her into the living room, thinking that maybe this can work out.

Is there such a thing as double-jinxing yourself?

There were seven kids all chilling in the room, as if they owned the place. The black chic looked like she was old enough to drive; the other car in the driveway must have belonged to her. The parakeet was flying around the room, but stopped onto of a red-headed girl's head as we walked in. Barry stood up from the armchair and walked to my other side. Bella was sleeping on the red head's lap, the one with Garfield the parakeet on her head. Damn, Bella's one tired kid.

"Hey Mrs. Allen," most of them greeted her. A black haired kid just stared blankly at her, the blonde just waved, and the red-headed kid, who looked like he could be Bart because of how similar he was to Barry, glared at her.

"Hey guys," Iris smiled. She placed a hand on my shoulder, making me realize that she was an inch shorter them me. Barry, on my other side, was two inches taller.

"This is my nephew, Wally. He'll be staying with us for a few days."

One by one, they introduced themselves. The parakeet girl was Megan, the Hispanic dude Jaime, the black haired kid Conner, the tall blonde Kara, the black chic Karen, and of course, Garfield the parakeet. The other red head was probably Bart, judging from the way he looked a lot like Barry.

"Hey," I said, shifting uncomfortably as all of them started to size me up. I had enough of that in school when I was still new, so I returned the favor. Bart looked skinny to be a runner. Jaime looked average, while Karen and Megan looked like they had training in some sort of martial arts. Conner looked a little bit like Kara. Come to think of it, I think I've seen Conner somewhere, like maybe recently…

Oh shit.

Superman

And since Kara looked like Conner, then that must mean that she's…

I quickly made a mental note of who was there. Bart had to be Kid Flash, making Barry the Flash. The parakeet could just be Beast Boy, while Conner and Kara were Superboy and Supergirl respectively. Jaime, he could be Blue Beetle as that would make sense. Karen was defiantly Bumblebee; Rocket's easy to identify because of her exposed face. They could possibly be here for the gang, though that's highly unlikely.

See what I mean when I said I jinxed myself?

"So your Iris' nephew huh?" Bart spoke up for the first time. I studied him as he scowled at me. I felt both Iris and Barry tense. I'm guessing that Bart wasn't so enthusiastic about me for some reason.

"Yeah," I said, crossing my arms. I didn't like the attitude of this kid.

He stood up and walked over, stopping in front of me and also crossing his arms. His legs were built to be a runner's, of course. "Just don't do anything stupid."

I narrowed my eyes at him "Says the kid to the guy who's ten inches taller than him and way stronger." I limited my vocabulary for the sake of a sleeping kid.

Bart's scowl deepened "You'd be surprised at how fast I can run."

"Alright guys, please" Barry injected, placing a hand on either of our shoulders "Let's just calm down, alright? I mean come on you two have only been in the same room for a few minutes."

Thank-fully, the doorbell rang. The pizza arrived (five boxes of it) and we all sat down to eat dinner in the dining room at around seven-thirty. Iris, Bella, and I stuck with our Chinese food. The conversation was relaxed among the others, but rather awkward around me. Bella, Iris and Barry left early to help Bella get ready for bed at eight.

"So Wally," Megan started "What's it like in Blüdhaven?" Everyone paused to look at me.

I frowned. How do you describe a dirty city to people whose lives are far from a lifestyle like that? "It's…dirty," I finally said, and congratulated myself on finding a word that perfectly describes all the Bat cities.

They glanced at each other "Uh, what exactly do you mean by that?" Karen asked.

I shrugged "Well, the streets aren't exactly clean you know." There was a pause.

"Whose jacket is that?" Jaime asked, chewing his pepperoni pizza.

I glanced at the Dick's jacket before replying "Its Dick's." Bart sniggered.

"What kind of name is 'Dick'?" He asked.

"It's a nickname for Richard," I told him, slightly snappish, tightening my grip on the chop sticks.

"He's just asking you know" Conner shot "There's nothing wrong with that."

"Hey I'm not against him asking it's just that the question gets so old and annoying after you hear so many people ask it," I said, raising my hands up in surrender.

"You were sizing us up earlier," Kara interrupted "What for? Are you planning to fight us?"

My first thought was that they knew who I was. Then I dismissed it. The League can't possibly know, unless it was staring at them right in the face. "So what was it that you guys were doing? Trust me; I know how it feels when someone's sizing me up."

"You would punk" Bart asked.

My eye twitched. That fucking kid just called me a punk. "What are you talking about?" Deep breaths Wally and don't kill your aunt's stepson. That makes a bad impression on everyone.

"Uh, you're from Blüdhaven, the worst city in the world, the birthplace of all villainy," He said like it was obvious.

"And have you ever heard about Gotham City?" I asked "Anyone with more than one brain cell would know that Gotham's the number one crime-ridden city in the world."

"Don't talk to him like that!" All of them, except for Jaime, Megan and Garfield the parakeet (though he did squeak loudly) shouted at me.

"Guys just calm down," Megan said firmly she turned towards me. "Wally, it might not be a good idea to talk at Bart like that." The way she said it sounded like she was threatening me.

"Hey I'm not the one who started it," I protested.

"Yeah, well you're not the one who's got a decent family," Karen replied right away.

There was a cold silence as her words sank in. "Excuse me?" I asked, my heart thudding loudly.

"Karen, that was a little too far," Jaime said "Wally, she didn't mean it. It was just a slip of a tongue."

"Your father was a crime-lord and your mother a whore before she was his bitch," Kara said, completely ignoring Jaime. "The only reason you were sent away was because he was caught, your mother ran away, and you were becoming too sexually attached to him."

What The Hell

That was just nothing but a sick and twisted truth. I saw red in my vision **(1),** and I stood up from my chair and the edges of the table. Everyone else stood as well, except for Kara, who glared right back at me. "That's a sick and twisted truth," I growled, surprised at how quiet and angry my voice sounded right then. "Who the hell told you that?"

"It's all over the newspaper," she said coolly, "And the article was written by a respected reporter, Vicky Vale **(2)**." She pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to me. I took it, my blood boiling. I scanned the paper, noting that it was a rough newspaper draft that she somehow managed to get her hands on, and getting angrier and angrier by the minute. This woman wrote nothing but lies, and stated that her contacts were 'resourceful and accurate', but failed to explain why.

After I finished, I didn't know what to think anymore. I knew nothing about this women, I didn't do anything wrong to her, and yet her she was, writing about lies and making assumptions. She even went as far as to explain why Dick wanted to adopt me in the first place. It was sick.

"And since you're from Blüdhaven, it's pretty obvious that you're a crook, and thief, and you should have been in juvie by now if it wasn't for the fact that Grayson likes to keep you and that you guys have the money to keep people quiet." Bart finished off with a smug look on his face.

The room stayed silent for a few minutes. Dimly, I wondered where Barry and Iris were. I glanced at the clock. It read eight-ten. It usually takes Dick and Zee around thirty minutes to put Maria to bed. I don't blame them.

Without another word, I grabbed my backpack and headed out of the room. "What's that thing on your backpack, West?" I heard someone shouted, but I didn't know who. Someone else responded, but I was already in the hallway. I headed towards the kitchen to go out onto the porch.

"Wally?" I heard Barry call, but I didn't pay any attention to it. I dashed through the kitchen, and out onto the patio. I stopped, gripping the railing tightly. The door opened behind me, and then closed shut.

"Wally," Barry stood next to me. I could feel his gaze, but I said nothing. "Wally," he repeated "Look, I'm sorry if Bart said anything. Ever since I married Iris and Bella was born, he's been a bit moody. I don't know why, and I'm sorry if he's taking out all his frustration out on you. I still try to be there for him. I take him out to games and everything." He paused, and then sighed. "I'm really sorry, Wally."

"It's not your fault," I said quietly "But…" I trailed off, trying not to think, except for concentrating on the fact that Barry knew Bart would do something, and was already apologizing for his son without even knowing what he did. My respect for him rose.

Barry squeezed my shoulder "I'm sorry, Wally. Look, I'll go talk to him."

"Barry," I said as he turned away "How did you know that it was Bart?" He hesitated, but didn't say anything. I wondered if the League had something to do with it.

"You don't have to tell me," I told him. "After all, he's your son." Barry walked away without another word.

After he left, I started to think. None of my friends in Blüdhaven knew about what happened in my old house until it came out on the news. And even then, they were supported me. Hell, one of them belonged to a small, minor gang, and I ended up having the gang's entire support. I heard worse things then what I read in the article, but I had people to support me. People who didn't come from 'decent homes' were more understanding then the stupid 'Leaguers' that were in the house. Hell, they, and people from 'decent backgrounds' had a stronger sense of family and bond then the 'Leaguers' and their stupid sidekicks. They knew what to say and what not to say.

I was still pissed, but not as much as before. Oh, I'll show this to Dick, but I won't expect anything to happen. At least not until it's printed. But for now, I'll just 'Keep calm (mostly) and carry on (with a few bumps in the road).

I turned and walked back inside, pausing just before the dining room. I leaned in the doorway, but no one noticed me. The air was tense.

Bart looked like he was crying; Karen, Kara, and Conner looked pissed, and Jaime and Megan were unsure of what to do in the situation. Barry had his back towards me.

"Bart," Barry said calmly "I'm not pushing you away."

"I know," Bart exclaimed "I'm not angry about that! But what really gets to me is that you replaced Mom."

"Bart-"

"You replaced her with some woman who doesn't even have a clean record! You replaced her with a criminal! And then you had a kid with her! What were you thinking?"

The no one in the room made a sound, but from the way they were standing, I could tell that Bart told them that as well.

Jaime spoke first "Bart, hermano, I think you got this all wrong."

"Why are you siding with her?" Kara exclaimed.

"Look, the Scarab told me that neither Iris nor Wally, shows signs of hostile intent. And Wally wasn't sizing us up earlier. He just, you know, wanted to know what kind of people we are," Jaime explained.

The scarab…which means that Jaime _was_ Blue Beetle

"And why are you defending them?" Bart asked.

"Look Bart, when you said that you expected Iris and Wally to be behind this, you gave us information that made the League believe that Iris is actually a part of the gang," Megan said "But your behavior and everyone else's, save for Jaime and Gar, towards Wally," she added pointed towards the accused "shows that you're holding a personal grudge."

"What did you tell the League?" Barry asked quietly, folding his arms, and staring right at Bart.

Bart looked guilty, and looked down at his feet. "I overheard the conversation between you and Iris, and your argument."

Barry sighed, and held the bridge of his nose. "Bart," he growled, angry "You are grounded from patrol, from Young Justice, and I'm benching you for six months."

"What, you can't do that!" Bart shouted.

"I can and I will! I'm your father Bart, and what you told the League was a family issue that didn't need to be made public." Barry replied, nearly shouting.

I figured that I should probably leave, so I took a step back. Just to my luck, the floorboard creaked.

All eyes turned on me, and there was another moment of silence. It's like someone died every time.

"How much did you hear?" Megan asked, in a serious tone.

"Bart's got a personal vendetta against me, and you're Leaguers," I said, shoving my hands in my pocket.

Again, everyone hesitated before Barry said "Wally you-"

"Can't tell anyone what I heard," I finished. "I guess it's nice to know that a bunch of Leaguers are after me and my aunt."

"Not all of us, Wally" Jaime said.

Bart looked heartbroken at what Jaime said for some reason; I felt a little bad for him. Only a little though.

"Yeah whatever," I turned around and paused "A person's background doesn't define them. Aunt Iris isn't a crook in any way imaginable." I started walking, only to stop again when I saw Iris. She had her back to the wall, one hand on her face, and tears pouring out of her uncovered eye.

"Aunt Iris-"

"I'll be upstairs, Wally," she said in a voice surprising calmer then what I would have expected. "D-do you need anything?"

There was a throbbing on the side of my head; I would need lots of ice. "No, I'm fine," I told her, figuring that I'd just get the ice myself. She nodded once, and half-ran up the stairs.

"Iris!" Barry pushed passed me and after his wife. I headed towards the kitchen, walking through the gathered audience, who followed me inside.

I hurried to the freezer, and grabbed bag of ice and a paper towel, wrapping the small ice bag in it.

"Wally, are you alright?" Megan asked.

"Yeah," I said in a small voice. "You guys can go to bed if you want." The group exchanged glances at each other before they left, leaving Conner, or Superboy, behind.

"Don't trust me?" I asked weakly.

"We don't trust criminals," Superboy said firmly. I didn't reply, but instead went to sit on the breakfast table, with Superboy sitting right in front of me.

A part of me wondered what Bart had said that led the League to suspect me so much. Was it the article? If it was, then why does the League trust Vicky Vale so much? She's a good reporter, but she's highly hypocritical of any rich person, especially Bruce Wayne. She's not allowed to interview him anymore unless one of his lawyers is present.

Another part of me wandered back to the article. The words hurt, they really hurt. Maybe I was being emotionally coddled too much, or maybe the dam broke and all my feelings came back to me. Whatever it was, if I read the article one more time, I'd probably need to go to the hospital because of all the memories it brought back, memories that brought forth unpleasant feelings.

Of course, I took the letter from my pocket, and reread it. As soon as I finished it, my phone buzzed.

It was a text from Jason, on the 'Bat-line', a secure line that used advanced quantum mechanics (or something) to hide an entirely new computer drive (or something). It attached to the main frame at the Bat-Computer in the Bat-Cave, and is available if you typed in different password then the one on your phone. Bats' got all our phones fixed so that they're touch sensitive. Only the Clan members can type in that code (a special one for every Bat). And they can even type in their own code to access their stuff.

Red Hood-**got info on business people; many of them got injected with the drug; found new drug in shipment; sending data results from computer 2 u; need u 2 analyze it further**

I replied back quickly.

Me: **Can't come; bunch of leaguers house; kf-bart, sb-conner, mm-megan, bb-karen, bboy- Garfield, sg-kara, bbeetle Jaime**

Red Hood: **shit but how much can u analyze if I send u wut the computer says?**

Me:** not much, but it's something**

A few seconds later, the computer's new information about the drug arrived. It was similar to the old drug, expect for a few minor changes that…

Oh shit

I looked up at Superboy, who looked like he was about to fall asleep. Last I checked Kryptonians, even hybrids, don't need sleep. I quickly replied to Jason

Me:** this new drug is for metas, it can randomly control then at any time n often forces them to act slightly out of character**

Then Harper joined in our little chat.

Arsenal:** found something u won't like**

Red Hood: **so did we**

Me: **wut is it?**

Arsenal: **Luther's paying big $ to the Cult, and the hired gang. Got some random people; sending copy of list.**

When he sent the list, Conner was already snoring. The house was quiet, and no one made a sound. My phone buzzed again. I scanned the list, my eyes growing wider and wider as the pieces clicked together. Apparently, Jason knew what I was talking about as well.

Red Hood: **A- Look bak up at the previous txts**

Arsenal: **Shit strike, u in the same house as those people?**

Two screams were heard, a woman's and a young girl's. Superboy suddenly woke and headed out of the kitchen. I saw the rest of the Leaguers leave as well, walking towards the door nonchalantly. Barry had blood on his hands.

Me: **better hurry we hve a situation b prepared to house a woman and a toddler**

Red Hood: **shit**

Arsenal: **shit**

I shoved my phone in my pocket, and ran upstairs, grabbing my backpack. The mission can wait. My aunt and cousin need me right now.

* * *

**(1) This may be an awkward sentence…can someone please send me a better way of writing it if it is?**

**(2) I only used Vicky Vale because I think her names sounds like one of those really mean people. I really don't know her well as a character, and she's kind of my 'author's scapegoat', if you know what I mean.**


	7. Rescue

**Hey guys! Here's the next chapter! Thanks for all the reviews and the messages reminding me to update. But i must warn you, this may still need a little more editing. Normally, I know I could have gotten it done, but life's been pretty busy right now for me. I'm only updating now because I'm afraid that I may not have enough time until for a long time.**

**In addition, I need to update my other story, but I haven't written the next chapter yet...**

**oops**

**But don't worry, like I said before, I'll finish this story no matter how long it takes. Even if it takes years, though you guys may not like that.**

**Anyway, R&R! Ideas welcome at this point :)**

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Chapter 5: Rescue

I ran upstairs, taking two steps at a time and backpack in hand. "Aunt Iris!" I shouted, pausing at the top of the steps. Dick, or Nightwing, told me that sometimes you can save a lot of time if you pause and listen before taking action. It helped on a lot of missions…or at least when I actually listened to his advice.

"Aunt Iris! Bella!" I shouted again. No one responded, so I ran through all the rooms, finally finding the two huddled in the corner of Bella's room.

Bella had a large gash on her head, which Iris was trying to stop with her hands. Both of them looked up in fear, and Bella screamed.

"It's alright!" I held up my hands, "It's alright I'm not going to hurt you." I slowly took a step forward, and hoped my voice was as reassuring as I thought it was. Zee and even Dick were better at calming victims.

I studied them as I slowly entered the room. Bella also had a large bruise on her arm and forehead, and Iris had an imprint of a hand around her neck.

"W-Wally," Iris gasped. She had a large bruise on her face as well; it started to turn ugly.

"B-Barry he-"

"I know," I cut her off, and knelt in front of them. I pulled out a tiny vial from my belt underneath my shirt. The utility belts now had medical supplies for both the Bats and the victims, if necessary. I handed it to Iris. "Here, just put a little bit on your bruise and spread it, alright?"

Iris looked at me in confusion "Wally-"

"Please, I need to look at Bella. I'll tell you everything later on," I told her firmly. She took it without questioning me any further. I reached towards Bella, who immediately shrunk back.

"Sweetie, it's okay," I said gently. "I'm only going to check and see if you're hurt anywhere else, alright?"

Bella nodded, but clung onto her mother. The cut on her head was large, but not too deep. I pulled out a gaze pad, pressed it against the cut and held it in place with a gauze roller bandage. I took the vial from Iris and spread a little of the medicine on Bella's bruises. I checked for other symptoms; she had a concussion.

Bella yawned "I'm sweepy," she mumbled, rubbing her eye.

"No Bella don't go to sleep, you hear me? Don't go to sleep, just stay awake." I snapped my fingers in front of her, trying to keep her attention.

"Bella look at mommy,' Iris said, her voice steady. "Just look at mommy and don't fall asleep okay?" I glanced over to see her bruise fading already. I looked back at Bella, and internally frowned when none of her bruises started to fade.

Getting an idea, I stood up "Just stay awake for a little longer, ok sweetie? Are you hungry?" Bella nodded. "I'll be back." I ran downstairs, faster than how a normal human can run, but not exactly at my top speed. I grabbed a handful of snacks from the pantry, my medicine from the cooler (since we'd be leaving anyway, I couldn't leave this behind) and ran back upstairs into the room. I handed the snacks to Bella.

"Just eat as much as you want, alright sweetie?" Bella nodded again. Iris opened one of the packets, her hands shaking. I dug into my backpack, and pulled out the handkerchief, domino mask, and gloves, putting them on.

Iris wasn't paying attention to me. I could tell that she was watching Bella eat hungrily (How? Bat-senses) "Wally, she'll-"

"Eat a lot, I know" I stuffed by sweatshirt and medicine in the backpack and tightened my belt around me. I gently touched her arm. She looked up at me, and gasped in surprise. The domino mask was probably enchanted to change my hair color, just like my costume. I ignored it "Aunt Iris, I figured out who Barry and Bart were. It's a long story. Now in a few minutes, two guys I know will be here. We're going to stay with them until all this is over. I'll tell you everything you need to know at their house."

Before I can go any further, the door burst open. All my training kicked in at once. I quickly pulled out my bo-staff from my belt and charged at the guy. He dodged my first attack, drawing out his gun and shooting it towards Bella and Iris. I quickly leaned towards the bullet, this time using my super-speed, and gasping as it landed in my side.

Either Iris or Bella screamed.

I hit the thug on the head, hard, and watched as he collapsed onto the floor. I knelt next to him. He looked like any normal thug, except with a Cobra tattoo on his neck. I frowned. Why would the hired dogs attack this house? Unless they wanted to inject Bella and Iris as well…I searched the guy again with one hand, the other was on my wound. He had an extra gun, extra bullets, two shots with the drug, and a switchblade. I took them all, though I wouldn't use the guns, except as throwing objects and Red Hood's birthday present if I forget to buy him anything. The switchblade, on the other hand, was pretty flashy, with the Cult of the Cobra's symbol on it and everything.

Souvenir

"W-Wally, you're hurt," Iris blurted out. She was taking this better than I thought she would. Of course, growing up in Blüdhaven makes you prepared for most things in life.

I turned around and smiled at her "I've had worse, trust me." It still stung though. I inspected the wound. The bullet was lodged halfway into my skin, a pretty shallow wound. I pulled the bullet out, hissing quietly, and taped a large gaze pad on it.

It would have been a good idea to contact Red Hood or Arsenal, but first I checked the entire house, making sure that all the lights were off and that no one else was there. I went back with more food for Bella, who was sitting on her bed with Iris. As I had guessed, the bruises mostly faded away.

"Eat as much as you want Bella," I told her quietly. The toddler reached for more, Iris opening the bags. I hand-cuffed the thug with the bat-cuffs (available in every bat belt) and gagged him with a piece of his shirt, before laying him by the door.

I opened up the holographic computer in my glove, and typed in a few commands, locating the frequency Red Hood and Arsenal were using. A tiny glove compartment opened, revealing a comm-link set to that frequency.

"Strike to Red Hood, Arsenal," I said quietly, sitting on the surprising comfortable thug "Anyone there?" The comm-link beeped, indicating that another person has joined in.

"Strike you there?" Red Robin's voice came through.

"What are you doing in Central?" I asked, surprised.

"Business meeting that turned out to be a trap to gain control of the majority of high-ranking businessmen," Red Robin replied. "I was about to be drugged when Arsenal and Red Hood showed up and took down the gang. Everyone I was with was freed as well and told to go back into their hotels."

"You think you can come here?" I asked him "My aunt's house. Cover's been blown, and there're a few interesting things you might want to know."

"Arsenal told me and I'm reading your text messages right now. I'm on my way."

"What's your ETA?"

"How does a minute sound?"

I grinned "Perfect." I turned to face Iris and Bella, who were huddled on the bed. Iris muttered softly to Bella, telling her that it was okay.

"Change of plans," I told them. "I've got another friend who's coming in less than a minute. Let's go."

As I led them out into the hallway, with thug being dragged behind me, I heard Bella asked "Wally, why did Daddy hit me and Mommy?"

I froze at the top of the steps, unsure of what to say. I couldn't say that her father was a heartless drunk bastard who was in depression; Barry wouldn't fit the description. I couldn't exactly tell her that Daddy has a little seed of doubt against Mommy that was really enhanced by the drug he was somehow given, a little fact concluded from glancing at the new drug's composition.

"He's being controlled by someone," half the truth wouldn't hurt anyone. "He didn't mean it Bella."

"Really?" she asked; her voice hopeful. I turned to face her, and took off my bandana so she could see me smile.

"Really"

"Mommy, Daddy can be fixed!" Bella cried. Iris smiled at her daughter, but it didn't reach her eyes. I put that aside for later.

The door bell rang, and I motioned Iris to stay where she was. The thug was set down by her. Sliding down the banister, I took off my domino mask, but kept my bo-staff collapsed and behind my back. I gently dropped my backpack by the small table nearby and slowly opened the door, making sure to not face the opening. Polished shoes appeared first, and then the rest of Tim's well groomed face and hair.

Tim was young, only five years older than me at nineteen, and became an official Bat a year and a half before me. He had an internship at Wayne Enterprises. In reality, it was more like he was taking an apprenticeship to be the next CFO of Wayne Enterprises after the current one retires in a few years. He wore a business suit which looked a bit crinkled.

I relaxed "Come in," I opened the door further.

"Hey Wally," Tim greeted "Anyone hurt?"

I gave him a list of Iris' and Bella's injuries. His eyes travelled towards the stairs, and I turned to find Iris standing at the foot of the stairs with Bella's timidly hiding behind her legs.

"Mrs. West-Allen," Tim walked towards her, and held out his hand. Iris shook it, giving him a small smile "I'm Tim Drake. It's nice to meet you, although I'd prefer the circumstances to be a lot less serious, preferably Thanksgiving, if you have no other plans."

"Um, it's nice to meet you too," Iris was a little confused, but a little charmed as well. It seems that if you're Batman or one of the Birds, then your civilian id has some sort of charm. Bruce charms the ladies and the businessmen, Dick charms everyone, Jason charms the young women, Tim charms business people, Steph also charms everyone, and for some reason, old women and mothers seem to find Damian adorable.

"We'll talk later at my hotel room," Tim said and motioned Iris and Bella to follow him. "I'll be driving you in my car."

"Hold on a second!" I sprinted up the stairs and then back down again with the thug in hand. "What about him?"

Tim scanned him over coldly, and said "We'll take him with us, provided that he's blind folded of course." I nodded and ripped the thug's shirt for another piece to tie around his eyes. Tim left, motioning Bella and Iris to follow him. Iris grabbed the keys from the small key holder on the wall by the door.

"I'll lock up the house, you go," I told her. She turned to look at me, her eyes searching me. I looked away.

"Alright," she said softly, tossing me the keys; I caught it. I grabbed my backpack and the thug and locked up the house after everyone left.

The journey to the city was quiet, until Red Hood contacted me.

"Red Hood to Strike, we need-"he cut himself off, uttering a string of curses "Get your ass here now! Sending coordinates"

"Aye aye captain!" I said. I turned to Tim in the driver's seat "Thanks for the lift, but I got to go. Take my backpack upstairs with you?" He barely nodded before I changed quickly, using my super-speed. Pretty soon, I climbed out the window and ran ahead of the car, as quiet as the night, as a Bat

As Strike

(Tim Third Person POV)

The hotel room was large, with three bedrooms that had master baths, a large living room, a study, a kitchen, a dining room, a game room at the top and a private pool above that. Of course, it was a penthouse.

Iris was busy helping Bella. The young girl was started to complain that she had a headache, and that her stomach wasn't feeling well. Iris carried her as they walked into the large penthouse. The thug had woken up in the car, but Tim pulled out a sedative (from his belt) so now he was unconscious again. He left the thug in the alley behind the building, making sure to take the cuffs, but kept his blind fold and gag. There was no need for him. Arsenal provided some interesting Intel.

"You can take one of the spare bedrooms," Tim said "The kitchen and the living room are open if either of you get hungry or want to watch TV. There's a T.V in the bedroom as well."

"Mommy," Bella moaned "I don't feel good." The young girl looked a little green as well. Tim, not wanting to clean up vomit rushed them into the nearest guest bedroom. As Bella was puking in the attached guest bathroom, he walked into the kitchen and grabbed a few things.

When he came back, Bella and Iris were sitting on bedroom. Bella leaned against her mother, gently stroking her daughter's forehead and telling her that it will be alright.

"Here," He placed an empty trash can by her bed and handed her a water bottle. "In case Bella can't make it into the bathroom in time. I'm no doctor, but I know it's safe for her to sleep now. If you want to watch any TV," he pulled out the remote from the drawer in the bedside table and placed it on top "Remote's right here; just press on and the TV will appear. If you need anything, I'll be in the living room."

She nodded, hugging Bella closely to her side. Tim knew she had a lot of questions. Heck, she probably figured out everything by now. It wouldn't be a problem for her to keep it a secret, but still…the more people that knew, the more likely that there are risks. He pressed his lips as he left the room, heading towards his own. There, he grabbed his laptop before heading over to the living.

He leaned back on the couch, turned on his comm-link, and opened his laptop.

"Red Robin to Central City Mission, need any help?"

(Hours later)

That had to be one of the oddest missions I had ever been on.

It was tiring, and the sole root of it was a man's desperation. Apparently, Luthor wanted to gain control over important members of the Wayne Incorporation. Lex Crops wasn't doing as well as Wayne Inc. He somehow managed to make contact with the Cult (the villains these days seemed to have connections all over the place) and struck a deal with them; he will give them followers if they will help him take over Wayne Inc. So the plan was, basically, get the important people drugged, take control, and then become rich. They would also drug a few of the superheroes, just to show people that there's no hope for them whatsoever or something.

And then, just to spite Dick, Bruce and everyone else, Vicky Vale was forcibly given a chip in the base of her neck so she would write a horrible story about me and make people suspicious of Bruce and Dick. Tim was the one to figure that out, seeing as he personally knew Vicky Vale and that she wouldn't do anything like intentionally. Personally, I was relieved.

We managed to destroy the machine that was holding her and several other people, including a large majority of Young Justice and the Flash as well.

Of course, we left before anyone other than the villains could see us. But the large Bat symbol on the wall of the large warehouse the people were held in may give them a clue. And I certainly hope that our personal message to Lex Luthor would be well received- 'U SUX LEX! ;D' (Bat symbol and message to Luthor courtesy of Arsenal and Strike).

We managed to sneak away as several ambulances arrived at the scene. Several people had…unpleasant reactions to the antidotes I gave them, but not too bad. The Flash, however, had to be given several shots in order for the medicine to be cured. In addition to that, we had to destroy all the control panels that controlled the people, as well as tying up the thugs, and making sure that the present Cobra members (one of them is called Shimmer I think), will get to Belle Reve.

To be honest, I'm surprised that we got it all done by dawn. After the mission, we changed and headed over to Tim's penthouse, with Jason driving us in an abandoned, beat up car that we ditched when we were close enough to the hotel.

Tim greeted us in the living room, holding a cup of coffee in his hand. "Batman wants to talk to you, Jason," Tim said quietly "It's about the mission. The laptop's open in the study." Jason mumbled something under his breath as he headed towards the study.

"I'll be in the kitchen getting coffee," Harper turned around. I started to follow him until Tim stopped me.

"Wally," he called. I stopped, confused. "I need to speak with both you and Iris."

"Where is she?" I asked, wondering what he wanted to talk about.

"In the bathroom; I told her to go freshen up," Tim replied.

"Right," I mumbled, my heart starting to hammer in my chest. I had almost forgotten about what happened just a few hours before. I sat down on one of the couches. "Did she stay up all night?"

"No," Tim replied, taking his seat "She got a few hours of sleep. She woke up a few minutes before you guys arrived."

"Right," I let a silence sink in, waiting for Iris.

Iris walked in a few minutes later, her face blank. She sat in front of me. "Alright" Tim said sitting straight up. "First off, Iris, I'm guessing you know who we are?"

Iris nodded "Everything falls into place once you think about it."

"How much do you know?"

She took a shaky deep breath before answering "Dick took Wally in a few years ago. I don't know how, or why, but he started to train Wally to become his partner. I'm guessing Strike because one, I still talk with an old friend in 'Haven and she talks about her local heroes, and two, he ran pretty quickly back at the house. It was easy to connect the dots."

Tim nodded and I said nothing; being a reporter and all, I figured she'd know as much.

She went on in a softer voice "So that makes Dick Nightwing, Zatanna Mistress Magic, Bruce Wayne Batman and…I'm not so sure about the rest of you."

Tim nodded "And if you don't mind, we'd like to keep it that way. You already know about a few identities. And if our opponents couldn't use means of control like the ones you saw today, then I would have said it's alright for you to figure out the rest. However, that's not the case and for the safety of you and everyone else you know and love, I must ask you to not think about it. It can lead to dangerous scenarios. So you understand?" His voice was soft, but firm.

She nodded numbly. There was a silence for a few minutes. Then she looked up at me, and asked "Wally, are you alright?" To my surprise, her eyes were tearing.

Tim walked out of the room, mumbling about joining Harper in the kitchen. Iris took a shaky breath, and I realized that she was trying not to cry. I walked over and knelt in front of her, taking her hands in mine.

"I-I'm fine," I told her.

Looking at her, I realized that she was the same aunt who once had been my most favorite person in the world. She didn't know what was going on, yeah, but she was there for me when she could. _He_ wouldn't dare to hit me around the holidays when Iris would come. _She_ would start to pay a little more attention to me. And Iris would always bring some sort of gift for me. Even when she started dating Barry, she still had time for family, for me.

I can't believe it took me this long to figure out how stupid I was.

"Aunt Iris, I'm sorry," I said. "I'm sorry for being mad at you for so long. I shouldn't have blamed, I mean, you had a job and you wanted to become a reporter and-"

"Wally," Iris cut me off, crying "don't say that. You were just a kid and you still are" her voice trailed off, and it made me think of the question she just asked.

"You're worried about me being Strike," I said quietly, realizing what she meant.

Iris nodded "It's bad enough with Barry and Bart going out every time there's trouble and now you too?"

I squeezed her hand, telling her that I would be okay "There's something you should know, about Barry and Bart."

Her eyes widened, and she slightly leaned forward. Before I could continue however, a wave of fatigue wash over me, and I yawned.

"Go to sleep," she ordered.

"No, I'm fine," I told her through another yawn.

Iris shook her head "No, sleep now."

"Alright," I grumbled. Before I could stand up, Iris cupped my face in her hands, and kissed me on my head, just like she did when I was younger.

Aunt Iris smiled softly. "Your backpack's in the room Bella's sleeping in. It's the first door on the left, if you need it."

I smiled at her "Thanks Aunt Iris. Wait, what about you?"

She smiled back "I'll stay; I need to think."

I nodded and got up, walking towards the room. Inside, I saw Bella sleeping, unaware of what was going on. The bruise and cut on her face all but disappeared, and her concussion should be gone by now as well.

Her sleeping form reminded me of so much of Maria. Both of them were so innocent, so…young. But one day, they'll probably grow up and follow their dads', and mom's in Maria's case, footsteps and become heroes.

I brushed aside her hair from her face, grabbed my backpack, and headed out. I collapsed in the room right next door, too tired to think.

Everything could wait until tomorrow at, whenever I wake up. Right now, hours of fighting caught up with me. I need my sleep.

* * *

**So, what did you guys think? I haven't written out the fight scene because everything that happened will be in the next chapter.**


	8. Explanations

**Rejoice! For chapter six is here!**

**Again, my deepest, most sincere apologizes for the delay. With finals, being worried about finals, and surprise events that just pop up, writing the story was a little slow. But, alas, I have finished it!**

**Any questions, just PM me, or review, and I'll answer you as soon as I can. Now, if anyone of you are also reading my other story, Approaching Storm, then feel free to send assassins or ninjas or the like to help me write faster. I'll understand why :)**

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Chapter Six: Explanations

I yawned as I walked out into the living room the next morning. Iris, Harper, and Bella were already there. Bella was watching 'My Little Pony', also Maria's favorite show, with Harper looking slightly interested in what Rainbow Dash was saying. Not that I knew who the characters were; I don't watch it with Maria. Okay, well I did, but only because Maria wanted me to. It's not like I like magical ponies with pretty hair colors on them or anything.

Pfft, that's ridiculous.

Jason was probably working on the case, there were still a few loose ends, or was still sleeping (he sleeps until he has to get up) and Tim was probably working on something. No one ever knows what he's up to. Just as long as he isn't planning to secretly take us all down (he probably is), then it's cool.

"Morning," I mumbled.

"Morning, Wally," Aunt Iris was the only one who answered; the other two were too busy watching TV.

I sat down next to Aunt Iris. "I guess you deserve an explanation," Before I could go on any further, my stomach growled. I cleared my throat. Aunt Iris looked amused "After I eat of course."

Half an hour later, Aunt Iris, me and Tim were all sitting at the breakfast table. Tim was already in his slacks, dress shirt and tie, talking on the phone with someone. He walked in five minutes ago.

"That's perfect Alan," He said to the other side, "And no, really it's fine. I completely understand." He paused. "Yes, of course. However, I would like a car to the suburbs." He paused again "Yes, family. Alright then, I'll see you soon." He hung up.

"Sorry about that," he said. "Mrs. West-Allen, there'll be a car ready for you, Bella, and Wally. If you want, you may call your house to see if everything's alright."

"Not until Wally tells me everything that happened," Iris said firmly. Tim nodded, as if he knew what she was going to say, and then turned to me. I explained what happened in the next fifteen minutes, including the enhanced syrup made for Meta humans.

By the time I was done, Iris had tears in her eyes "Thank God," she whispered "Oh thank God, thank God." Not exactly the reaction I was expecting, but considering her husband was the Flash, she probably had been through worse.

"Mommy," Bella walked in, shyly "Are you ok?"

"Yes sweetie," Iris knelt on to the ground and opened her arms out to her daughter "Everything's fine."

As Bella and her mother hugged, Tim turned towards me. "Wally," he started quietly "I rechecked the chemical make-up of the two drugs."

"And," I asked my heart pounded.

"It shows that the infected victims may lose or only have fuzzy recollections of whatever they did while they were drugged."

"So they may not know I'm supposed to be there."

"Yeah"

"Great"

* * *

An hour later, we pulled up in front of the Allens household, with a cop car in the driveway.

"I should come in and explain everything," Tim offered. Aunt Iris nodded.

She tried to call her house, but no one was picking up, and so she only left a voice message. Tim had already taken aside Aunt Iris and told her what happened before we left. She had looked worried, but understood. We even went over what to say if anyone asks in the car. Bella was told what to say as well.

Alan, the driver, opened the door for her. She dashed out taking Bella with her and Tim followed closely behind.

"Wait here for a few minutes Alan," Tim told his driver, who nodded in response, before catching up to my aunt.

I took a moment to thank properly thank Alan, "Thanks Alan," I took his hand and shook it, much to his bewilderment. "But to be honest, I think I prefer you as a singing chipmunk."

The driver stared at me for a few moments before I walked towards the house, without saying another word.

Just as I stepped over the threshold, my phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hey," Zee's voice came through "I saw what happened on the news this morning. How are things?"

"Pretty good, considering how things went," I said as I looked around the house, not finding anyone. Voices came from the kitchen. "I think everything's going to work out fine."

"Of course," she said, most likely smiling.

"Where's Dick?" I leaned against the doorway to the living room.

"He's sleeping," she replied. "That mission with Bard didn't leave him in good spirits."

"I wondered why he hates him so much," I mused.

"He's just being the overprotective brother he usually is," Zee explained. "Anyway, I have to go. Maria's going to a birthday party."

"Ooh," I said "How come I wasn't invited?"

Zee laughed "Take care, Wally."

"I will; bye" I hung up, smiling. I looked around. The phone machine was lying on the side table by the coat rack, a red blinking light indicating that there was a new message. I stared at it thoughtfully for a few minutes. Maybe they came back to the house, saw that Bella and Iris weren't there, and then ran off to look for them before calling the police. That would give them no chance to see the blinking light, possibly. Considering that they may have regained consciousness who-knows-where, then they had every reason to worry.

Yeah, that seemed about right.

I walked into the kitchen, where the temperature was a few degrees below zero. Iris quickly walked out, holding Bella in her arms, followed by everyone else except for Barry, Tim, and two officers.

The Tim and a buff officer were having an intense staring contest. Another officer behind her partner, one had on her gun handle.

"I told you once, officer, and I'm only going to tell you once more," Tim said coldly. I frowned. Tim wasn't usually this harsh unless someone _really_ ticked him off. "Wayne Incorporation had nothing to do with the attack on the business representatives last night."

"Sources say otherwise," the officer replied just as coldly. "The first business members to be found came from Wayne Inc."

"Not our fault that we were rescued first," Tim shot "And unless you want to face charges for arresting someone innocent, then you'll have to please leave."

"Excuse me," Barry stepped forward. "I think it's all a misunderstanding. Officer Hudson, maybe it was a coincidence that Wayne Inc members were rescued first. Do you have any solid evidence that proves that Wayne Inc was responsible for whatever happened last night?"

The officer named Hudson growled, his hand resting on his gun. "As _I_ recall, no member of the Wayne family is honest."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I growled. Everyone, except for Tim, jumped, just noticing that I was there.

Hudson turned towards me, seeing me for the first time. He smirked, as if he knew something I didn't. He nodded towards his partner. The partner picked up a newspaper from the table, and tossed it over to me. Her name tag read J. Walkers.

"Front page," she said, looking slightly unsure.

I looked down at the page, and froze. The article was similar to the one I read last night, but the reporter wasn't a drugged Vicky Vale. It came from the Daily Planet, a newspaper company that Wayne Technology's entertainment department manages. The article was by Tyson McGovern. I scanned the article. This reporter didn't stop at trashing me, but also the entire Wayne Family.

Last night's anger resurfaced, but I tried to push it down. Hitting a police officer while a civilian is not a good idea unless he's corrupt and is about to arrest your friend. I just stood there, taking a moment to gather my thoughts. "So," I said finally "You're basically basing your judgment based on an article some reporter wrote?"

The officer said nothing, turning slightly pink. I tossed the article to Tim, who caught it with one hand and scanned through it. With his lips pressed in a thin line, he walked out of the kitchen, only stopping at the doorway. He held up the newspaper and pointed it towards the two officers "You two, and whoever else is involved, will be punished." He left, with two officers hurrying behind him.

"Hey," Barry put a hand on my shoulder "Are you alright?" I nodded.

"Here, maybe you should sit down," Barry added, pulling a chair out for me. I sat down in it, and he sat next to me.

"What uh, did the article say?" Barry asked me gently.

I looked up at him. His eyes seemed to genuinely show concern for me. And he was, different. There was something about him that seemed different, like he didn't know why I was there.

"Do you remember what happened last night?" I wondered "As in, anything at all?"

"What do you mean?" Barry asked confused "What happened?"

I frowned, slightly applauding myself for my act "What do _you_ mean? You guys have no idea what happened?"

"Well," Barry began "We were uh sleeping and when we woke up we couldn't find Iris or Bella."

I frowned deeply "And what about me? Did you look for me?"

The confused look in his face said it all "We didn't even know that you were supposed to be here. We were shocked to see your suitcase, honestly."

I told him what happened last night, at least what we had rehearsed in the car. At the end of it, no one said a word.

"How about we all go into the living room?" Barry suggested. "The others should know about this." I followed him out into the living room, where everyone was talking quietly.

"Wally!" Bella jumped up and ran towards me. She threw her arms around my legs, grinning up at me.

"Hey Bella" I ruffled her hair.

I looked up at Aunt Iris, who smiled and kissed Barry on the cheek. "I told them what happened last night. I'll take Bella with me to make breakfast for everyone so you guys can talk it out."

"Alright then," Barry touched her arm "I'm sorry, about what happened."

"Its fine," Aunt Iris kissed him, earning a disgusted look from Bart.

"Yay, breakfast" Bella grabbed her mom's hand and dragged her mother out of the living room. Aunt Iris let her daughter pull her away, laughing.

I looked around the room. The girls were on the couch while the boys took the love seat, except for Conner who stand next to Megan on the couch and Garfield, who was still a parrot on Conner's shoulder. They did seem different from last night. Most of them looked embarrassed and not as hostile. Bart just looked conflicted.

"Wally," Barry placed his hand on my shoulder "I'm sorry for what happened last night."

I shrugged "Yeah whatever, it's cool."

"It's cool that we insulted you last night?" Bart asked incredulous. "Do you even care?"

I scowled "Bart" Barry warned "Watch what you say."

"You get used to it after a lot of people call you stuff," I replied through gritted teeth.

"But now it's all over the newspaper," Karen stated gently, "What are you going to do about it?"

"Me? I can't do anything. I'll leave that stuff to Tim, Bruce and Dick."

"Wait, you know Dick Grayson!" Kara exclaimed, getting excited.

"Yeah, he's married with a kid," I told her, much to her disappointment.

"Oh," she tried not to sound too discouraged.

"Sorry about, you know," Conner said, rubbing the back of his head "All that…suspicion."

"It's fine," I said. "I mean, I don't think you were in charge of your actions."

There was a loud squawk from Garfield the parrot. Megan smiled. "Alright Gar, you can turn back."

I couldn't hide my amazement as Garfield the Parakeet become Garfield the human/monkey hybrid boy. Bart ran over to quickly close the blinds. He was pretty fast. And finally, Megan turned green.

Hmm, interesting

"Why'd you close the blinds?" Jaime asked Bart.

"So no one would see us," Bart explained.

"But you used your super-speed," Jaime pointed out.

"So?" Bart's face fell as he realized "Oh."

"Yeah…"

Megan left the room, saying that she would help Aunt Iris with her cooking. Barry offered to help them as well. Kara and Karen sat down on the love seat and started to talk about whatever they wanted to talk about. Garfield, Bart, Conner, Jaime and I all sat on the couch; well, I took the armchair while Garfield turned into a dog.

So all-in-all, they took it pretty well that they had just been injected with drugs and had no idea of what happened last night. Or maybe they can just act well. Or maybe this happened to them on a daily bases. Who knows who cares?

"That's pretty cool," I remarked, leaning back in the chair "I mean, you guys have powers and everything."

"You don't too surprised or anything," Jaime observed.

I shrugged "Well, I've seen something really cool. I mean not to say that your powers aren't cool or anything."

"Something more cool then meeting actual superheroes?" Bart asked, skeptical. He crossed his arms and frowned. "I don't believe you."

"So what did you see?" Conner asked, or rather demanded.

"Who, not what," I leaned forward, and whispered "Nightwing and Mistress Magic." Saying that I saw Batman would be a little too much, even for the non-believers.

The three of them stared blankly at me and Garfield the dog tilted his head, curious "Who?" Jaime asked.

"You know, two of Blüdhaven's heroes? Members of the Bat Clan?"

"But the Bats are just a bunch of people without any powers," Bart pointed out doubtfully. "What's so cool about that?"

I shook my head at their ignorance. They would never understand unless they saw a Bat. And it still doesn't matter that I was a Bat. Every time I look at another Bat, a tiny sense of awe still fills me, especially if I'm meeting them for the first time. But whenever I see Batman, or even Bruce Wayne, I still feel intimidated. And I'm pretty sure that it has nothing to do with the face that the man is six feet six inches.

"If you ever meet them, as you know, superheroes, then you'll understand," I explained "Otherwise, you have no idea, and you never will."

Just then, Bella skipped inside. "Breakfast is served!" She shouted, throwing her arms up into the air. I smiled; she looked so much like Maria that I wouldn't be surprised if they were twins separated at birth. I got up and followed Kara and Karen into the kitchen, though I already ate. Everyone else followed behind us.

* * *

The conference room in Wayne Towers, Gotham City, was unusually silent. The morning sun shone through the windows, its rays landing on the sole occupant. Bruce drummed his fingers on the table, staring intently at Tim's picture on the large TV screen. A newspaper lay on the table, containing information that he didn't like, at all. His face was devoid of any emotion, nothing to show that he only had three hours of sleep when he had received the call from Tim. Tim stared back, only matching his adoptive father's 'glare' because it wasn't directed towards him.

"Has Wayne Enterprises been in any contact with the Daily Planet lately?" Bruce asked.

"No," Tim replied. "And whatever contact has been made would be by the Wayne Incorporation Entertainment division."

"Very well then," Bruce press his lips together. "I'll talk with my brother about this. In the meantime, I want background information on the two police officers and the reporter who wrote this." He tapped the article with his finger.

"Half-way done," Tim replied. "You'll get the info soon."

"Good," He responded curtly "I'll talk to you soon then, Tim."

Tim Drake nodded before turning off the screen.

Bruce stared at the black screen, his reflection staring back at him. With his niece's birthday only a few days away, the article was a…an annoyance. He knew what the public had thought about his family, save for family, a close friends and select acquaintances. He knew what both his niece and his son had to endure during school, and even his other wards and his own brother when they were in school.

There was a knock on the door. "Enter," Bruce said. He swirled his chair around to see Lucius Fox, a trusted man.

"I've got news, and you're not going to like it," The man started. His eyes trailed to the newspaper on the table. "But I see you already know."

"Get Penning," Bruce ordered. Agatha Penning was the head of the Wayne Incorporation Entertainment Division. "Tell my secretary to arrange a meeting with the head of Daily Planet, and this reporter with Penning, Tom and I."

"Will you inform Tom?" Lucius asked.

Bruce pressed his lips together. "Yes, and I'll talk with Alfred and Dick as well. It's time these rumors ended."

Lucius nodded, turned his heels, and walked out the door. Bruce sat there for a few minutes, still thinking of his next actions.

He stood up and walked towards the one-way glass wall. Half of Gotham lay out before him. Even with years of work and years of improvement, the city was still dirty; dirty, noisy, and the breeding ground of the greedy. Very few were honest, and he knew that his family would not be a part of those few, though for different reasons. They had to protect the city that started it all, and maybe also the city that ends it all.

Still, rumors about his family were increasing lately. They could mean absolutely nothing, of course, but past experience told him that it wasn't likely.

He pulled out his cell phone, and entered the code. The 'other line' allowed him to conference with three of his most trusted people at the same time. It was time to end all of this.

* * *

When I overheard two people talking about the article in the Central City Mall, I knew that if this was any of the Bat-cities, mostly Blüdhaven and Gotham, I would have been given weird looks and whispers would follow me everywhere I go. Thankfully, no one knew my face here, so I ignored most of the talk. I just hope that I wouldn't make the evening news with Godfrey.

Still, I kept my hood up while we were in the mall, earning me a weird look from Bart. Speaking of which, my step-cousin seemed to have a crush on Jaime. He would always be glancing at him when he though no one was looking. He would try to walk closer to him, and slightly blush whenever his hand touch Jaime's, though the older didn't seem to have noticed. He would tense whenever Jaime talked to me and both of us laughed at something. Someone couldn't get any more jealous.

Anyway, the mall was huge, but smaller then from what I remembered. The girls split off from us to shop wherever they wanted to and the guys just wandered around the mall. Unfortunately, Aunt Iris got a call from her boss, telling her to cover the events that happened last night. Barry, who I learned was a forensic scientist, was called to research what had caused the control of the many people. Probably to see whether the data we, the Bats, dropped off at the police station last night was true or not. Bella was dropped off at her friend's house so we could have time off.

So the boys just wondered around, with Garfield as a lizard in Conner's pocket. Jaime and I, along with Bart's jealous glances thrown towards us, talked about the different types of skateboards and the tricks we could do.

"Dude no way," Jaime said "There is no way that you can do three Ollies in a row."

"You wanna bet?" I asked him. "Twenty-five bucks I can."

"Fifteen and you got a deal hermano," Jaime said, after a moment's hesitation. We shook on it.

"Come on, let's head towards the food court," Conner said, slipping his phone into the lizard-free pocket. "The girls are there."

Once we reached the food court, Megan waved us over. "We saved a table or a few." She added as she motioned towards three tables pushed together. After everyone arrived, we dispersed, everyone going to their own preferred food place. Conner, Megan, and I all headed towards a sushi place.

"You know, I never actually tried sushi before," Megan started.

"It's good," I told her "Although it's really one of those things that people either hate or really like." I ordered my sushi, but Megan insisted on paying for it.

"Hey you don't have to," I protested.

"Come on, it's for, well it's for what happened last night," she replied.

"No it's fine."

"You're right it's fine," Conner added "I'll pay." He ended up paying for all three of our meals.

When we approached our table(s), only Cassie, Kara, and Karen were back, with food from Subway. Cassie looked up at us and shrieked. The people around us gave her weird looks.

"Sorry," she said blushing. In a softer voice she said "It's just that, well you know, three of our friends are particularly fond of fish."

I frowned, but understood what she meant. "So?" Conner asked, bluntly.

"Well, wouldn't it be, you know, rude or disrespectful?" she asked.

Conner shrugged "As long as it's not their friend or anything."

I looked down at my sushi. As tempting as it was, it would really suck if did turn out to be one of their friends.

"If you're not going to eat that," a new voice said. A mechanical arm snatched my plate of sushi.

"Hey!" I protested, turning around to see two new figures smirking at us.

One was my fellow redhead Harper, wearing blue jeans, black converse, and a Metallica t-shirt. He wore a baseball cap and his prosthetic arm was holding _my_ plate of sushi.

The other was Jason. He wore a black t-shirt with a leather biker's jacket. He had black biker boots, fingerless gloves, and jeans with a chain on them. I swear I could hear the girls sigh behind me.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked, fist-bumping both of them.

"The lady here wanted to go shopping," Jason said, jerking his head towards Harper, who already had his face stuffed with my sushi.

"Dude come on," I sighed "Why do you have to eat my food?"

"Because we're both red heads and you hate it when people eat your food," Harper replied, taking another bite out of my sushi.

"Key word being _my_ food," I said dryly.

Jason turned towards Conner. "Jason Todd," he introduced himself.

"Conner Kent," both of them spent the next few moments having a stare down.

Kara pushed Conner aside "Hey, I'm Kara," she said, smiling and twirling her hair. I frowned. I never really understood why a few girls did that when they flirted.

"And he's taken," Harper handed me the empty sushi plate, but facing towards Kara.

"Gee thanks for the plate," I said sarcastically.

"Who are they?" I turned around to find Bart with Jaime behind him, holding a bag from Burger King.

"Jason Todd," Jason ignored us and turned towards Bart and Jaime.

"Jaime," Jaime said "And this is Bart."

"Um, they're friends," I explained. I pointed to Jason, and then Harper "Well Jason is more like family. Harper's just an unwanted leech." I smirked, poking him in the ribs.

"Ouch," Harper said, placing a hand over his heart and pretending to look hurt. "A little harsh don't you think."

"What are thugs doing here in the mall," Bart shot. I winced. Both of them had a rather tenuous past about being a hero and all. The last guy to accuse them of being thugs ended up in the hospital for a few months.

"Bart," Megan warned.

I could see both of their jaws tighten, and felt Harper tense next to me. "Shopping," Jason replied tensely. "What else would you do in a mall?"

"Do you live in Central or somewhere else?" Karen changed the subject. Bart, Jaime, and Megan sat down, but Conner, Jason, Harper, and I kept standing.

"Gotham and Star," Jason replied. "We're just stopping by for a business meeting, which turned out to be a fraud."

"You mean about the people who were drugged last night?" Bart asked. "Were you drugged?"

"We missed our plane last night, so we had to take one early in the morning; didn't know what happened until we arrived," He explained annoyed at Bart's questions.

"How about you two sit down?" Megan offered, trying to ease the tension.

Jason's cell phone rang. "Damn it," he muttered as he checked it. "We have to go." He turned towards Megan "Thanks for offering" He ruffled my hair "Take care kid."

"Yeah, you too," I said. Both of them waved to everyone else before leaving.

We sat in silence for a few moments, everyone starting to eat. "Wally, do you want anything? I'll pay for it," Megan offered.

"Nay, its fine," I said, "I got money. I'll be right back."

As I waited in the sushi line, I thought about Bart. For the entire time we were in the mall, he seemed to have hated me; making some sort of snippy remarks every chance he got. I didn't know what his problem was, but it was annoying. I don't think I could handle another three days like this.

I headed back to the table, sat down and started eating my sushi. I kept tapping my leg, annoyed by the silence. It was like they were having silently communicating.

"Alright," I said, putting down the sushi I was about to eat. There were a few things I needed to clarify. "What do you guys have against me and Aunt Iris?"

That surprised them "What do you mean?" Jaime asked, putting down his burger.

"I mean that all of you have been giving me these weird looks ever since we showed up this morning," I looked at each of them, before turning the Megan. "And I don't think you're here just to spend spring break."

Megan bit her lip "Wally, maybe it's not a good idea to talk about here."

I scowled "But will you tell me?" I pressed.

_What you want to know to classified League information,"_ Megan's voice said, in my head.

I choked on my sushi, earning a rather hard pound on the back from Conner.

_Did I just hear Megan's voice in my head?_ I wondered, suddenly worried.

_I linked you up with the rest of us so we can tell you-_ I cut Megan off.

_Get out of my head_ I shouted mentally, feeling vulnerable. A slight pressure that I hadn't noticed before lifted from my head.

"Wally," Karen put her hand on my shoulder "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I smiled off my nervousness and suspicion. "Is everyone, you know…" I trailed off.

"Yeah," Conner replied.

"I'm sorry Wally," Megan apologized "I got used to hanging around people who're so used to it."

I shrugged "It's cool, really. I just don't like it when other people are in my mind." I laughed "I guessed I watched too many Sci-Fi movies with Martians that control people with their minds and enslave them for all eternity."

Everyone else suddenly looked uncomfortable "No offense Megan," I quickly said "You're good, I know."

"None taken," Megan replied, and continued to eat her sushi. The rest of the meal passed on in silence, other than idle chatter.

After we finished, we decided to head home, knowing that there was nothing else left for us to do.

But of course, the Terror Twins decided to rob the Mall right then and there.

* * *

**I know that I took a long time to update but um...can you please, you know, review? Please? Try not to be so angry at me?**

**Thanks :)**


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